The 2nd Seascale Scout Group are a group catering for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from the age of 6 -14 in Seascale & the surround areas of West Cumbria. They are an ever growing group of fun and enthusiastic youngsters who, like most scout groups, are always trying new activities whether they be land based or water based, heading off to camp or honing new skills.

The 2nd Seascale Scouts joined Epic Events at their recent Sportive, the Lakeland Loop. The guys and girls manned the food stop at Stanton Bridge, a stones throw away from their headquarters. Anyone who was on the sportive will remember these guys. They didn’t stop running about all day, making sure that all the riders were fully stocked with water, sandwiches, cake, tea/coffee and made sure that they all got a cheer or a round of applause as they set off to tackle the last few hills.

All the Lakeland Loop riders donated generously to the Scouts on the day and the Scouts raised a grand total of £250. Epic Kidz has donated a further £250 to the 2nd Seascale Scout Group to match the efforts of the Lakeland Loop riders and the money will be put to good use by the scouts with the numerous camps organised over the summer months.

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The Phoenix Youth project is a modern, forward thinking, engaging and exciting Youth Work Project, working with marginalised and disadvantaged young people aged 8-19 in the deprived areas of Cleator Moor, Frizington and Moor Row in Cumbria.

Annually, the Project works with over 500 different children and young people. They aim to raise aspirations, develop positive behaviour, encourage healthy lifestyles and reduce crime, discriminatory and anti social behaviour.

They are the only dedicated youth provision for 8-19 year olds in the area and thus their work is vital to the young people and the wider community.

During a session, the children get involved in a number of activities. They can use pool tables, table football, table tennis, air hockey, computer consoles, karaoke and various board games. There are also talks about the issues that affect the younger generation such as alcohol and drug use, sexual health and they also offer accreditation such as the Duke of Edinburgh and ASDAN Awards.

The group is funded by donations from various companies and the donation from Epic Kidz of £250 is greatly appreciated and will be put to great use in helping to fund the numerous sessions within the project as a whole.

To find out more about the Phoenix Youth Project, check out their website HERE.

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Last weekend was the start of the Epic Lakes Swim Series. The series started off with the Ullswater Epic Swim, based from Glenridding in the Lake District. It was a lovely sunny weekend and with over 500 swimmers on the day, the atmosphere on the field was fun and friendly.

The day wasn’t all about swimming, we also organised a family fete to help raise money for the local primary school in Patterdale. There were “traditional” races such as Welly Wanging, Egg & Spoon and 3 Legged Races. They was a tombola, a coconut shy and a fabulous cake and refreshment stall.

The fete was extremely well supported by all the swimmers and their families and thanks to their generosity and enthusiasm, we raised a grand total of £1500 on the day. Patterdale School are extremely grateful to all the swimmers who supported the fete, got involved in the games, sampled their cakes and helped to raise such a fantastic amount.

In addition to the Patterdale School fete, the Ullswater Swim was also supported by the 2nd Penrith Scout Group. The scouts joined us again for a second year and brought a great group of children over to get involved in helping out the swimmers with timing chips and handing out medals. The children all had a great day supporting the swimmers in their achievements. The 2nd Penrith Scout Leader did mention that most of them had spent all of their pocket money on the coconut shy during the day though!

The Scouts are currently fundraising to be able to purchase a new set of tents. Their old set of tents are quite tired are no longer fit for purpose and they hope to replace them ready for the summer camp season.

Epic Kidz has donated £500 to the 2nd Penrith Scout Group to help them with their fundraising efforts so they can take the group camping this summer.

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Lancashire Youth Performing Arts (LYPA) has been established since 1992 and offers classes from a diverse spectrum of performing arts which includes dance, drama, voice & creative arts to 3-19 year olds. The LYPA are an independent, not-for-profit organisation, which enables them to provide a welcoming & friendly atmosphere, with the emphasis on fun as well as personal development and achievement through performing arts.

Each year the LYPA are determined to put on a show stopping performance before the summer break and this year has been no exception! The team have been working hard directing the children, helping them to learn lines, making costumes, painting sets, rehearsing non-stop for Peter Pan. They were, however, struggling to raise funds to be able to hire microphones for the show.

Epic Kidz has donated £485.00 to the LYPA to enable them to hire their microphones so that the whole audience will be able to hear the children professionally deliver their lines & sing beautifully.

The LYPA have said “This grant is going to make such a difference to the children’s confidence & performance! We are absolutely delighted to accept this grant and can’t thank Epic Kida enough“

If anyone is interesting in finding out more about the LYPA you can do so via their website http://www.lypauk.com.

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We heard about Ashton Hayes Primary School through the legendary Delamere Spartans. The primary school have been undertaking a challenge to get their staff and pupils more active. Without the need for PE kit & trainers, every child and all staff members at the school go out every day into the fresh air to run, jog or walk for 15 minutes. The challenge is not competitive and most children cover a mile each day. It is something that is done separately to the schools PE lessons and is aimed at encouraging and improving the children’s physical, social, emotional & mental health & wellbeing.

Unfortunately, due to the poor weather over the winter months, the 1 mile route that the school had marked out became extremely muddy and was proving to be difficult to walk/run on (plus a lot of unwanted washing).

To avoid the mud, the children were completing a different mile route but this was around a dull & uninspiring playground. The school actively searched for a solution so that the children could get back out into the school grounds again but the solution was going to cost £7000.

The school is now actively fundraising to raise £7000 to create an all-weather path around the school grounds. This will mean that the children will be able to do their 15 minutes of daily exercise every day throughout winter next year, enjoy everything the school grounds has to offer and avoid the boring playground.

Epic Kidz have donated £250 towards their fundraising efforts which currently stands at £1270.00. If anyone would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so via the schools Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ashton-hayes

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Leyland Warriors Rugby Club were founded in 1993 and have been based from their current site in Leyland since 2014. Since that time, they have developed significantly, running 18 teams for players of all ages and abilities with hundreds of junior members.

Their most important development was their clubhouse, which was opened in late 2015 and provided their members with sufficient changing rooms and a post match location. In addition, the clubhouse is also used regularly to host primary and secondary school competitions.

In the early morning hours of 11th May, a fire broke out which left the clubhouse gutted and the Rugby Club with a £9000 repair bill. The club vowed to take the setback in their stride, not let the arsonists win and subsequently went on to raise £300 within the first 4 hours of their fundraising efforts. The local community and the rugby community rallied together and the club have, to date, raised over £3500 via their Just Giving page.

Epic Kidz have donated £1000 to Leyland Warriors to help with the repairs to their clubhouse and hope that the clubhouse will be up and running again soon.

If anyone would like to donate to the Leyland Warriors you can do so via their Just Giving page and you can find out more about them on their website.

We ran a competition recently for a free entry into the Southport Half Marathon & 10k. Our winner Lisa Laforte was overjoyed and then went on to tell us her story. She’s running the 10k to raise funds for ‘cuddle cots’.

Lisa and her partner Mark were devastated when they lost their newborn son Thomas in 2015. Thanks to a “cuddle cot” they were given a few precious hours with him. The cuddle cots are refrigerated cribs that allow stillborn babies to stay with their parents for a while and cost £1600 each.

The Wigan couple are embarking on a number of walks and runs to raise money to provide “cuddle cots” to all grieving parents who need them.

When we heard of the couple and their fundraising efforts, we were immediately touched by their story. As a result we’ve donated £1600 to allow the couple to purchase a cuddle cot.  So far the couple have raised in excess of £4400.00 which will help so many other couples.

You can read more about Mark & Lisa’s story and support their fund raising efforts here https://www.gofundme.com/thomass-cuddle-cot-for-wigan