A PERSONAL trainer from Oswestry has joined forces with two local gyms to raise money and awareness for one of the country’s leading mental health charities.

Luke Smith of Imperium Personal Training, based in Oswestry, has teamed up with Evolution Gym and Active 8 Gym to host a charity football tournament at The Venue at Park Hall in Oswestry, to raise money for Mind.

The idea for the event came after Luke and the other organiser’s recognised an increase in mental health related-deaths in Oswestry.

“Oswestry has been fighting a battle against mental health now for some time,” said Luke.

“After the past few months and many people in the area losing loved ones, friends and family; myself, Evolution Gym and Active 8 Gym decided we needed to try and help by offering our services and promoting the positive effects exercise can have on reducing symptoms of depression.

“After weeks of organising this event, sadly we heard the tragic news about Jason [Williams] and felt we needed to get Chirk involved to tackle this together.

“Kindly, St Martins Village FC and Gobowen FC [football teams] merged together and entered a fourth team to allow us to turn this into a tournament.

“The support we have had from the community and local businesses around Oswestry has been overwhelming. We’ve sold more than 200 tickets and expecting to sell another 300 before the day of the event.

“I would like to thank Graeme Sutton from Sol Distribution and KCS Trade who very generously sponsored the event and donated £1,000 each. I would also like to thank Lace carpentry who have donated £500 towards the charity.

“We hope everyone can come support the cause, we have a few surprises for the event and we hope to have some entertainment during the intervals so it should be a great day out for families.”

The event will take place on Sunday, November 17 at 1pm.

Tickets £5 with children under-six going free, can be bought from The Venue or Evolution gym in Oswestry.