A FOOTBALL tournament in memory of a young player who took his own life has raised a whopping £10,000 – and still counting – for charity.

More than 1,700 people turned out for the Olly Wilkes Memorial Tournament held at Thorns Collegiate Academy in Brierley Hill on Saturday (May 19).

That figure included around 400 players, a mix of juniors and adults, for the competition which was jointly organised by Olly’s family and friends and his former club Withymoor Colts.

Olly’s father Simon Wilkes admitted he, wife Lynn and son Ben were amazed by the turnout and the money raised.

Simon said: “We as a family still cannot believe the amount of friends and family that turned up, we were absolutely overwhelmed.

“For Lynn, Ben and myself, it was such an emotionally, mentally and physically amazing day. The love shown towards Olly and us from family and friends is beyond words.

“He is so sadly missed but Olly certainly shone down on us on Saturday. You could feel the love and emotion all day long.

"What a day and a beautiful way to remember our son, brother, grandson, nephew, daddy and, as was so, so apparent on Saturday, good friend to so many."

The total raised so far from the day is £10,091.37 which will be split between four charities - The Olly Wilkes Memorial, PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) Charity, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the Iyla Rose Foundation.

Representatives from the Anthony Nolan Trust – a charity concerned with blood cancer, a condition Simon suffers from – were also on hand to recruit potential stem cell donors.

More than 52 potential donors were signed up, which Simon termed an ‘unbelievable response’.

Donor Matt Beveridge – whose stem cells recently saved someone’s life after he signed up at another charity football event in Stourbridge last year – was also present on the day.

Matt was a friend of Olly, who tragically took his own life last year, aged only 22.

The fundraising day finished with a raffle, auction and disco of ‘Olly’s tunes’ at the Tenth Lock pub in Dudley on Saturday evening.