NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL: Chelmsford City midfielder, Takumi Ake, emotionally recalled seeing the devastating scenes of an earthquake and tsunami impact upon his home country for the first time as “like something out of a film” but expressed his thanks for the recent contributions to his ‘Tako Fund’ to raise cash for the British Red Cross’ relief efforts.

Ake watched with horror when the first images of Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake were broadcast last week, witnessing pictures of the natural disaster which had a magnitude of around 9.0 on the Richter Scale. This was followed by a tsunami and power station explosions affecting the north-east area of Honshu, including Tokyo.

The diminutive former Newport County wide man was upset by the tragedy at home, fearing for the safety of his natives. He said: “My family and friends are all fine, though at first I was a bit panicky until I spoke to them about four hours after I heard the news, on Friday afternoon I think. When I saw it all I just couldn’t believe it - that’s actually happening in Japan. That’s something you see in a film and I was in shock.”

Once he’d established the safety of his immediate loved ones he continued with life as best he could, and was part of the Clarets squad which defeated Lewes at the weekend. Though he felt that, despite being on the opposite side of the globe, he could still join forces with his peers and make a contribution to the recovery programme.

He explained: “Since the earthquake happened I’ve been thinking about which ways I can help Japan. After Saturday’s game I spoke to the Manager and the Chairman and they said they were happy to help me. Since then the members of the Supporters Club have organised everything. I’m just fortunate enough to play football in this difficult time. Everyone’s behind me and it’s an absolutely amazing feeling.”

Chairman Mansell Wallace kicked-off the club’s campaign by allowing a bucket collection to take place at Monday night’s home game with Dover Athletic. Commemorative gifts were created to raise cash and a web page was set-up at www.justgiving.com/tako to allow individuals to contribute from anywhere in the world. With £2,000 banked already, one of the volunteers, Ken Carr, explains how the project has gathered momentum.

“What started off as a simple collection captured our imagination and everyone wanted to do their bit,” he said. “Their was a special effort to collect in the ground, there were numerous radio, television and newspaper interviews to arrange and it became apparent that we were going to smash our first target. We had no idea what figure to pick and the number we settled on, £1,000, proved to be far too modest, so we upped it!”

In a matter of a few hours, post match calculations indicated over £1,200 had been raised so extra phases were added to radically expand the efforts. Ken continued: “Seeing the potential at first hand, we wanted to make this an overall non-league fund. Fans from every club are welcome to make donations and this is a perfect opportunity to prove just how much of a positive impact football at all levels can have on society.”

To make your contribution online, visit www.justgiving.com/tako.