THE 18th edition of the annual Sharon Wood charity mini soccer tournament took place at Wendron United’s Underlane ground on Sunday.

Hundreds of children took part in the event, which featured around 100 teams from all over Cornwall competing across seven different age groups, from under-7s to under-13s.

This year’s event celebrated a special milestone, with the £3,477 raised from this year’s event taking the overall total from all editions of the tournament past the £50,000 mark.

Play was halted at 1pm to mark the milestone with a presentation of a certificate of appreciation from a Cancer Research UK representative.

The event is held in memory of Sharon Wood, a founding member of the first Wendron Youth Football committee who died from cancer in 1999 aged just 44.

Fellow committee member and friend Roger Cleave proposed a youth football tournament in her memory, with the first staging on July 16, 2000 which attracted 50 entries.

Since then the tournament has grown year on year, with the organisers having to cap the number of entries due to the demand for places.

Cleave said: “It is unbelievable, we’ve grown from a very small beginning and to look at it now, especially from the car park across the road where you can see the whole site, is just a fantastically gratifying view to see so many participants, so many supporters, and it’s just a great event, shown at its best on a day like today.

“The amount of money we’ve raised is a great legacy for us, for Sharon’s memory, to take it over the £50,000 for Cancer Research which is what triggered the whole event in the first place, so it’s a big day for us.”

As well as the football there was a play area with a bouncy castle, with volunteers from the football club running a variety of stalls.

Scorse Foods organised a BBQ, while many referees gave up their time to officiate matches held across the 14 different pitches.

Click here to view a gallery of the day.

Winners: Under-13 winners Saltash, runners-up Wendron; Under-12 winners Truro, runners-up Wendron; Under-11 winners Helston, runners-up St Day; under-10 winners Penzance, runners-up St Blazey; Under-9 winners Saltash, runners-up Illogan.