Select charity football match features ex-Premier player Jimmy Bullard

Jimmy, pictured above scoring a goal, said: “I really enjoyed playing in the charity game – loved it. I was only supposed to play 20-25 minutes but I didn’t want to come off. If you love your football and you’re a football player at heart, it’s like a drug. I’d still be playing now if my body would allow me.”

The Reading FC Community Trust operates separately and independently from the club itself and works tirelessly to offer a safe environment to care for, develop and educate disadvantaged or at-risk young people within the Reading and surrounding areas.

Since 2024, the Reading FC Women’s First Team and its associated youth pathway has also fallen under the stewardship of the Trust.

The Trust’s Manager Dave Evans said: “Since becoming Principal Partners of Reading FC in 2021, Select Car Leasing has always had strong bonds with the Reading FC Community Trust and we’re delighted to have their continued support. Funds raised via the charity football match will be used to support the diverse range of activities the charity delivers to disadvantaged, at risk, vulnerable, SEND participants of all ages in the local and surrounding communities in Reading and Berkshire.”

Select Car Leasing co-founder and CEO Mark Tongue thanked Jimmy – a long-time ambassador at Select – for being such a good sport at its annual charity football match.

He added: “We hold a charity football match each year, raising funds for a diverse range of charities, and we’re thrilled to be able to bolster our support of the Reading FC Community Trust with this year’s fixture. The Trust engages with more than 3,500 people from a wide demographic each and every week. It’s an operation that runs 24/7 and provides everything from alternative school provision and holiday camps to disability soccer sessions and a dementia cafe.

“Without the Trust, the local community here in Reading would be a much poorer place and we’ll continue to offer Dave and the team our full backing.”

Since 2021, Select has donated thousands of pounds to support the Trust in its provision of school holiday camps.

In March 2024, Select donated a free minibus to the Trust in support of its ‘Reading Alternative Provision’ (RAP) care, which supports children struggling with the school environment while offering alternative provision for young pupils.

And in December 2024, Select became Principal Partner of both the Women’s First Team as well as the pathway teams – which falls under the Trust’s umbrella.

Photos: Neil Graham