A CHARITY golf tournament will be held in memory of much-loved Blackbird Leys councillor Val Smith this month.

The Save Oxford Stadium campaign group, which is trying to bring the Oxford Stadium on the estate back into use, will raise money for Sobell House Hospice and Action on Bladder Cancer.

Before Mrs Smith died on May 15 she had battled cancer for more than a year and spent her last few weeks in Sobell House Hospice. Mrs Smith was a city councillor for 24 years and a county councillor since 2005.

Organiser Robert Dunn said: “Last year we did a charity golf day to raise money for the campaign, but this time we wanted to do it in memory of Val. She was a big, big supporter of saving the stadium and restoring it as a community asset – she took the cause to heart.

“She told us she would do everything within her power to make sure it was preserved.

“She did a great deal of work behind the scenes in helping us, along with her husband Andrew, MP for Oxford East. We want to say thank you for all her work.”

The stadium in Sandy Lane, which used to host speedway and greyhound racing, has been under threat from developers wanting to use the site for housing. But the city council designated the stadium a conservation area to prevent homes from being built on the site and fought off a judicial review challenge.

Now it is hoped that bidders who came forward earlier this year will relaunch the sports at the stadium.

The event will be at Oxford Golf Club in Hill Top Road on Thursday, June 25, and teams and individuals can enter.

* For more information, to enter or to donate a raffle prize call Oxford Golf Club on 01865 244258. Donations in Mrs Smith’s memory can be made to Action on Bladder Cancer c/o The Co-operative Funeralcare in Balfour Road.