CITY council staff took to Notts County's Meadow Lane pitch for a football tournament in memory of a colleague.
As well as the council five-a-side teams, two council contractors – Total Reclaim and RCC Ltd – also entered players for yesterday's competition.
It was held to raise money for the Treetops Hospice in memory of city council IT manager John Widdowson, who died from oesophageal cancer in 2010, aged 49.
Funds were also raised for the Anthony Nolan Trust, a blood cancer charity, in support of a council employee who is in hospital.
Mr Widdowson's widow, Jane, 46, and their two daughters Lydia, 15, and Miriam, eight, attended the event.
Mrs Widdowson said: "It's been lovely to come and see everybody and see how they've come together in memory of John.
"He was a very special man."
The Treetops Hospice cared for Mr Widdowson near the end of his life, providing at-home care.
Mrs Widdowson added: "I can't sing their praises enough."
Money was raised from the £3 entry charge, while many of the teams also made their own donations. The money, which will be split between the two charities, has yet to be counted.
The tournament was organised by one of Mr Widdowson's colleagues in the IT department, Naeem Akhtar Rashid, 35. He said: "John was a great man, he basically gave me the inspiration to do this tournament."
The event was won by Mr Widdowson's former department, IT Services, which beat Neighbourhood Services three nil in the final.
Ursula Friel, who works for the neighbourhood services team and attended with her four children to cheer on the team, said: "We all want the team we work with to do well, it's just the fun of it and it's for charity."
And Kalel Brody, 28, co-captain for the traffic and signals department's team, said: "We went out to services and contracts, but it's still been really fun to play."
Mr Widdowson's two daughters helped to present trophies to the teams at the end.
The Sheriff of Nottingham, Councillor Merlita Bryan, said: "I think it's nice that the city council workers want to come out and support something like this."
Teams which were knocked out of the tournament early took part in another competition against each other.
Councillor Eunice Campbell was one of those staffing the Anthony Nolan stall and said: "We've been very successful today.
"We want to raise awareness of the trust and get as many people as we can to sign on to the register."
The trust aims to increase the amount of people on the stem cell register and there will be a registration event at the Loxley House building, Station Street, on Wednesday, July 3, from 11am to 3pm.
