All Kitted out

David Crook is just one of the many people at the Clitheroe Wolves Football Club to have discovered how important East Lancashire Hospice is to a loved one.

When his mother-in-law Glenys Smith used the services at the hospice back in September 2020, he, like others in the Ribble Valley area, found the hospice was there for them.

It seemed only natural from there to want to support the hospice.

Clitheroe Wolves support hundreds of children and adults in their passion for football, “We have little ones as young as 4, up to 23 for the men’s team; and 3 ladies teams.  Also affiliated to us are the 2 mens walking football teams, they are all here.”  During lockdown when subscriptions were to be suspended due to no football being played, many parents and members opted instead to continue paying the monthly subscription fee, which had been cancelled. “People wanted to still donate to the club. £5, 10, £20 - it all added up”

Instead of putting all the money directly into the club, it was suggested by David (who is Secretary for the club), with agreement from the committee, that a percentage of the donations paid would be gifted to East Lancashire Hospice. With 900 members registered within various teams, the money quickly mounted up.  It was communicated as an option for those who were keen to support the club that this was the idea – to help a local charity.

David explained, “Families were happy to keep donating to make sure that our doors stayed open after the pandemic and were very generous. During lockdown we managed to raise £1,700 for the hospice.”

But it hasn’t stopped there.

It has been decided that the East Lancashire Hospice Logo is to be used on one of the team kits.

“Every team has a sponsor. It is usually a business within the Ribble Valle area. With the tricky period of lockdown and not being able to run the club as easy, as we all returned back, we noticed one kit had been organised by a coach themselves and paid for without a nominated sponsor. The Under 11 Yellows kit looked strange being plain and so it was the most obvious thing for us to do - add the East Lancashire logo to the kit!”

The kits now looks very smart and the team are looking forward to playing whilst representing East Lancashire Hospice as their chosen charity.