A charity football match that raised more than £400,000 for Grenfell Tower survivors has won a community project of the year award.
Former England goalkeeper David Seaman joined a cast of celebrities including Marcus Mumford, Les Ferdinand, Peter Crouch and Damian Lewis at the Game4Grenfell in September last year.
Queens Park Rangers hosted the celebrity showdown at the Loftus Road stadium, situated just a mile away from the site of the disaster.
Team Ferdinand’s (left to right) captain singer Marcus Mumford, presenter Ben Shephard, Sir Mo Farah, Damian Lewis, DJ Spoony and Peter Crouch celebrate after Sir Mo scores the first goal of the match during Game4Grenfell (Victoria Jones/PA)
About 2,000 complimentary tickets were given to those directly affected, including residents, relatives of the victims, volunteers and members of the emergency services.
All ticket money went to the Evening Standard’s fund for those affected by the tragedy, which claimed 71 lives in June.
The event won best community project run by a London club in 2017 at the London Football Awards on Thursday evening.
QPR’s director of football, Les Ferdinand, said: “After the game I remember speaking to some of the survivors and they were saying ‘since the tragedy, this is the best day we’ve had’.
“A lot of people had felt on their own and thought no-one cared. But they saw a packed stadium and everything that took place was done for them and no other reason.”
QPR in the Community Trust CEO Andy Evans said: “Game4Grenfell was an undoubted success and there are so many people to thank for making it possible, but it’s not about plaudits, it’s about our local community.”
He added: “Hopefully by QPR winning this award, it will bring Grenfell back into the spotlight, because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.”