Hampshire FA and Stoneham Lane Duty Manager, Matt Hill, is taking part in the Great South Run 2021, to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK, in memory of his dad, Keith Hill.

If you haven’t met him before, Matt Hill is one of our Duty Managers at Stoneham Lane Football Complex, often seen putting the hard yards in on the pitches (artificial and grass) to maintain our top-class playing surfaces for the local grassroots football community to enjoy.

In July 2019, Matt sadly lost his Dad, Keith, following an 18-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Not only was Keith a beloved father, but also a husband, colleague and friend to many, well known in the New Forest football community for his avid support of Bashley FC. On top of his love for local football, Keith had a passion for running and would often brag about the many half-marathons he had completed.

On Sunday 17th October 2021, in the year that would have seen Keith celebrate his 60th birthday, Matt will follow in his dad’s footsteps by putting his own running trainers on and taking part in the Great South Run to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

In taking part in the Great South Run, Matt will be taking on a huge 10-mile run across Portsmouth. With no real previous running experience, he’s had to put in months of hard training to make sure he’s ready for the event.

Discussing his training, Matt said: “The training’s going well. The main challenges have been getting up for the 6AM runs through the summer months and resisting Stoneham Lane’s quality sausage roll.”

“Pancreatic cancer survival rates are low. All the challenges of training and the run will be worth it to raise money to help Pancreatic Cancer UK transform future research.”

Pancreatic Cancer UK provide invaluable support, research, funding and campaigning to help people like Matt’s Dad, Keith, in the future.

You can find out more about Matt’s Great South Run, and donate, on his JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/keith-hill21