Dad's pride as award in memory of daughter, 19, killed in crash is presented at Wembley

The Hope Award has been created in memory of Charlotte Hope, a 19-year-old trainee primary school teacher who died after the collision on the A53 at Astley, near Shrewsbury, on April 9, 2022. Her mum Helen was seriously injured in the crash.

Last night at England's 2-0 Nations League victory over Finland at Wembley Stadium, her dad Neil and best friend Emily Gee were in the Royal Box, rubbing shoulders with legends including Frank Lampard, Michael Owen and Sir Trevor Brooking, as thousands of fans were told all about Charlotte's voluntary work in Kenya and how she loved helping people.

The award is for an outstanding contribution to football in the community.

Charlotte volunteered for a month in Kenya, as well as taking boxes full of football shirts to Africa on numerous occasions with her dad's charity - Taking Football To Africa And Beyond.

She was named as the inaugural winner for 2023. This year, the winner was named as Jason Land, Lincolnshire FA’s disability ambassador.

Mr Land, who is partially sighted, has been involved in disability football for more than 24 years as a player, coach, club committee member and league committee member. He is also Grimsby Town’s sports and education trust disability and inclusion lead.

Neil said: "I'm incredibly proud really that the FA created the award in Charlotte's name.

"Debbie Hewitt (FA chair) was kind enough to speak to both Helen and I very early on about whether we would be willing to allow it. We are very willing.

"I think it will make us very proud in the future to be able to see other young people striving to volunteer to help others in Charlotte's name.

"I joined the Royal Air Force in 1982. I played football in the Air Force at various levels and then eventually became the FA Council member for the Royal Air Force FA. Ever since I was a child I was football crazy. Everything revolved around football.

"It just made sense for me to move into football administration and doing that sort of stuff, and then beginning a charity which was also based all around football.

"It began with a conversation in a bar with an old boss of mine who was a Bolton Wanderers season ticket holder many, many years ago.

"She suggested that we collect all the football shirts that we had lying around and send them out to people in Africa.

"We started the Taking Football To Africa And Beyond charitable appeal which basically collects football shirts and re-distributes them.

"The appeal started back in 2006 and is still running today. To date we've delivered over 350,000 items, which includes over 100,000 football shirts to 63 countries worldwide."

He added: "Charlotte really didn't have a great deal of choice in the early days in that some of our holidays tended to be out to Kenya, which is the country where most of our kit goes to. We set up really good links with Kenya from about 2008.

"Since then we've been running a visit each year where we take people out to deliver the football kit in and around the slum areas around Nairobi and other parts of Kenya.

"I think she was nine on the first time she went and the she's been a few times since then. She sort of got the bug. She used to help me sorting the kit, boxing the kit, and when she was 16 she went out and volunteered for a month at one of the children's orphanages that we work with in a place called Gilgil, the Restart Centre.

"She went out with a school friend of hers for a month on her own and had her 17th birthday while she was out there.

"Her intent was on finishing university, because she was doing a primary education degree, that she would go and teach in Kenya so she could carry on doing her voluntary work out there.

"I took Charlotte across to the Shropshire FA and she had a little interview with them and joined the FA Youth Council for Shropshire FA.

"Charlotte was a typical 19-year-old. She was a typical child really. She was very caring and I think from doing the trips out to Kenya and going and seeing how youngsters live out there and the struggles they have on a day-to-day basis, she wanted to help in her own way, I suppose.

"She liked doing voluntary work. As well as the Youth Council, she volunteered during Covid at the League of Friends because the older people that normally work there couldn't work there.

"She just like being in and around helping people, really. All she'd ever wanted to be was a primary school teacher. She wanted to go out to Kenya, she wanted to teach in Kenya. But she also wanted to carry on volunteering and being with those children.

"The amount of money that we've raised for the Restart Centre (since Charlotte died) has been absolutely incredible. She got and award from the FA Youth Council last year.

"It is a privilege to announce that, in honour of my wonderful daughter, Charlotte Hope, the FA is launching the Hope Award.

"This award will recognise everything that Charlotte did and believed in."