Surprise winner of SOS Football competition
11/08/2006
SOS Football, the prediction competition run by SOS Children’s Villages as part of "6 villages for 2006", its joint World Cup campaign with FIFA, not only raised thousands of pounds to help orphaned and abandoned children around the world, but also produced a very unlikely winner.
“Inchy” Collings had been the runaway leader of the online prediction competition since the early stages and despite a wobble in the latter stages, managed to hang on and claim the title and prize of a signed England shirt. But of the hundreds of would-be football managers, who had pitted their wits and knowledge of the beautiful game in the competition, none would have guessed that they’d been beaten by an unborn child.
Inchy, you see, is not due to arrive until late October and was so named because he or she was only a few inches tall when the predictions were made. Stewart Collings, the expectant father, entered his own predictions for the SOS Football competition and decided to have another whirl for fun and to support the charity. “Inchy will be a passionate England fan and the England shirt will be hung proudly on his or her bedroom wall” said Stewart, a little embarrassed at being beaten in the competition by his unborn offspring.
The competition, which was designed and run by IT training company XOR, raised over £2,000 for "6 villages for 2006", the official charity campaign of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This money will go towards providing orphaned and abandoned children in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam with a new family home.
Stewart and Janet Collings were presented with Inchy's prize of a signed England shirt by "6 villages for 2006" by Campaign Manager Chrissy Davey and Paul O'Connor of Xor at the Collings' home in Manchester this week.
More information about the "6 villages for 2006" campaign can be found here