AN Oxford man whose friends were caught up in the Grenfell Tower disaster is planning a reunion to raise money for their community.

Martin Simmons from Blackbird Leys played football with a team from the Kensington area of London just a month before the disaster last year.

He is now hoping to reunite the teams from that tournament for a charity match this summer to mark the first anniversary of the disaster and has appealed for help to help make it happen.

The original tournament, which took place in the south of France, saw Mr Simmons’ team of Oxford amateurs play against French table-toppers Club Athletique Cannetois.

Also taking part were Wessex FC, a team made up of former gang members from London who live in the area close to the tower.

A month after the match, on June 14, Mr Simmons was shocked as he watched the events of the fire unfold but did not realise how close some of his new friends were to the disaster until much later.

The 46-year-old said: “I spoke to some of them afterwards and they told me they could see the tower from their window.

“I’ve seen it myself on the bus from Oxford to London, it’s still very visible.

“We wanted to do something to maintain the links we made in France and raise some money to help the community recover.

“Knowing people in the area brings it home to you.

“There is a community that is suffering and is very close to us and we thought this was a way of bringing everyone back together and doing something to help.”

Between July 13-16, Mr Simmons’ friend Christopher Hughes, who lived in Oxford for 10 years before moving back to his native France, will lead a delegation of players from Club Athletique Cannetois to come and stay in the city.

During that time they plan to visit London to play against Wessex FC again and hope to raise £2,000 to be donated to schools near Grenfell.

An after-match party is also being planned with Oxford-based MCs performing.

Mr Simmons has called on people to help out with the trip in any way they can and has particularly asked for anyone who owns a mini bus to help transport up to 20 footballers and officials around.

The temp-worker said: “They saw what happened in France and all wanted to do what they could.

“All the players have self-funded the trip and paid for their own flights and accommodation but we want to help them out where we can.

“When they are here we will be making them a big breakfast and showing them around the city.

“It’s going to be a challenge to transport everybody around so anyone who is willing to lend us their mini bus would be a big help.”

For more info on how to help or to volunteer to get involved email grenfell2018fundraiser@gmail.com.