ECDSA to hold 10th anniversary charity event

On Tuesday, April 18, the Exeter City Disabled Supporters Association are hosting their tenth anniversary event at St James Park, with all money raised going to the Reverse Rett charity.

The event, which kicks-off at 7pm and is free to attend, has been kindly sponsored by Bower and Bower estate agents, who are donating directly to Reverse Rett and providing support on the night. Exeter Nissan and Green My Business have also donated towards a small buffet.

The night will consist of a presentation of the achievements of ECDSA, a talk on Rett Syndrome, and fun and games with a raffle and auction. Items up for auction so far include a West Ham shirt signed by Gus Payet, an Alan Shearer signed Blackburn Shirt, a George Friend signed Middlesbrough shirt and much more. Prizes for the raffle include signed Exeter City memorabilia and bottles of wine and spirits.

So far, former City players Pat Baldwin, Wayne Carlisle, Matt Taylor and Bertie Cozic, will be in attendance and joined by current City first-team players Lee Holmes and Jordan Moore-Taylor for an interactive Q&A session.

ECDSA was formed in 2007, now in its 10th year and has given disabled Exeter City fans ‘a voice to be heard’. The group raises funds to improve facilities for those with disabilities visiting St James Park.

ECDSA’s first president and president for four years was former City midfielder Bertie Cozic who made 98 appearances for the Grecians between 2006 and 2011, and was part of the team that was promoted to League One in 2009.

Bertie’s daughter Lily-Rose has Rett Syndrome, which affects nearly every aspect of the child’s life: their ability to speak, walk, eat and even breathe easily.

The ECDSA wanted to use their anniversary event to raise awareness for the condition and to help raise vital funds for medical research conducted by Reverse Rett.

Nick Saunders, ECDSA chairman said: “We’re always raising funds to help our football club and we wanted to use our anniversary event to give something back and what better way, than supporting our original president who helped our association greatly in the early years and his daughter Lily-Rose who has Rett, so all money raised at our anniversary event will all go to Reverse Rett”.

Speaking about the event, Bertie Cozic said: “It should be a great evening to raise awareness and fundraising for Reverse Rett, which is a charity close to my heart. I was really honoured to have been ask to become president of ECDSA and look forward to meeting everyone on the night.”