Ajani Burchall has just celebrated his tenth birthday, but it is Bermuda Cancer and Health that is getting the present this year.

For the second time Ajani decided that rather than getting presents he wanted to have a charity football tournament with his friends and North Village teammates to raise money for the charity after a friend’s mother, Kamala Smith, was diagnosed.

“It’s going toward Bermuda Cancer and Health because my friend’s mama has it. He’s on my team,” the Paget Primary student said. “I like football and I wanted to help people.

“We had one [tournament] a few years ago for my seventh birthday, and I wanted to do it again and invite more people,” he said. “I invited 30 of my friends and some coaches, like my godparents and uncles.”

Despite the threat of rain, the tournament went ahead on Sunday at Bernard Park. While it’s still too soon to say how much money the event raised for charity, Ajani said he hopes to turn the tournament into an annual event, raising even more for charity and getting more people on the pitch.

His father, Shannon Burchall, said he was happy to see his son giving back to the community.

“I had asked him what he would want for his birthday gift, because most of these kids are somewhat fortunate and they don’t really need any toys anymore,” he said. “I suggested to him that he should have another football tournament and he said he wanted to do it.

“I said he could choose a charity that he and others could learn a bit about giving to those in need, and he chose his friend’s mother. Instead of donating directly to her, we wanted to help others who suffer from this in our community as well.”