Warton Warriors Football Team is a local team for children that participates in the Lancaster & Morecambe Service to Youth League (LMSYL). It currently has around 20 children registered and is a mix of boys and girls. There is an U9’s team and they are currently looking at an U7/U8 team too.

The team is run by supportive parents who volunteer their time to coach, administer and help on match days. Warton Warriors is a small village team and is often up against far bigger clubs yet they are still successful, winning many games and sticking to their philosophy of making football accessible and keeping the enjoyment in the game.

The Warton Warriors have a FA “Respect” banner that the parents and spectators stand behind to watch the matches. The banner is quite old and has started to fall apart so the club have been looking into raising funds to obtain a new one. They have also had a number of footballs lost/stolen recently and have been much in need of getting replacements.  Epic Kidz has donated £250 to Warton Warriors to allow them to purchase their new Respect banner and to replace all their missing footballs.

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Lancaster & Morecambe Voluntary Police Cadets are young adults aged 13-18 who have an interest in the Police & want to give something back to communities. Currently there are about 30 cadets of mixed ages and genders from all sorts of backgrounds. The Cadet moto is “lets get out there & do some good”. Their aims are to promote a practical understanding of policing in young people, give them a chance to be heard and to participate positively in their communities.

The Cadets have volunteered at many community events, they have helped clean up the cycle track in Lancaster, collected for food banks, raised money for St John’s Hospice and helped out at local sporting events to name just a few activities they have been involved in this year.

Epic Kidz has donated £500 towards the Lancaster & Morecambe Voluntary Police Cadets which will help them continue their hard work throughout the local community.

You can find out more about the Police Cadets on their facebook page or their website. 

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The Army Cadet Force is one of the country’s largest voluntary youth organisations and is also one of the oldest, tracing its history as far back as 1859. Lancashire Army Cadets is home to over 900 cadets and 190 volunteers in 34 detachments across Lancashire. 

The ACF acknowledge that many young people are missing out on challenges and adventures that could transform their lives and they aim to change that with their cadets. They welcome boys and girls aged over 12 of all abilities and backgrounds. They encourage their cadets to learn more, do more and try more. They inspire them to aim high and pursue their goals, no matter what they aim to do in life.

Whilst some of their activities have a military theme, most have more of a community focus but they all inspire young people to challenge their limits, become more independent, confident and able to step up to any challenge. All activities are provided at a very low cost or free.

Epic Kidz has donated £500 to the Lancashire Army Cadets which will go towards their many yearly activities and fundraising good causes they take part in.

You can find out more about the army cadets HERE

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St Peter’s High School has had a tremendously successful year on the rugby pitch and 3 teams (year 7, 8 & 10) have qualified for the National Finals, to be played in London this Summer. The year 7 team are playing at Wembley as a curtain raiser to the Challenge Cup Final!

All 3 teams are the reigning North West Counties Champions and as a school they are the current National Rugby League School of the Year.

Whilst being delighted with the success, the school have had to raise money to cover the transport, food, accommodation and kit for the children to be able to play in the finals. Epic Kidz has donated £500 towards this to help give the children some great memories that will last them a lifetime.

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Bolton Hospice provides specialist care for the people of Bolton who have life-limiting illnesses, and supports their families. Hospice care is not just a building, it is a way of caring for people.

The care Bolton Hospice provides aims to improve the lives of people whose illness may not be curable. They help people to live as actively as possible after diagnosis to the end of their lives, however long that might be and place the highest value on respect and choice.

The team of doctors, nurses and other professional staff provide specialist care and support for local people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, in the hospice and at home. They not only take care of patients’ physical needs, they consider their emotional, spiritual and social needs too. And support families and close friends, both during illness and in bereavement.

Bolton Hospice provides care throughout a patient’s illness, so they achieve the best possible quality of life. This includes end of life care, helping them to achieve a good death incorporating four key principles: respect, time to plan, care and support.

Bolton Hospice is mainly funded by local people. The Hospice relies on the support of local people to raise a staggering £3.4 million every year (around £9360 every day)! A £1000 donation could pay for 62.5 hours of specialist, compassionate nursing care at the Hospice.

Epic Kidz has donated £1000 to Bolton Hospice on behalf of the guys at Greater Manchester Fire Service.

Henrietta Colborne has been cycling since she was 9 years old. She is 10 times National Champion, she has spent 2 years on the British Cycling Olympic pathway, she has won the women’s Tour of Malta, come 7th in European Time Trials, 2nd at Chrono Des Nations, 16th Elite UCI women’s race stage 4 and is the National Junior 10M record holder (20:21 – 8th fastest women’s ride ever). As you can see, the girl has some serious skills!

Henrietta started racing for Beacon Wheelers in 2014 whereupon she progressed to Bontio/Team Jadan in 2015 and then Ford/British Cycling/Isorex & Team Jadan in 2016. Racing for so many teams has helped her get to the races that really matter so she could develop and get the results she needed.

In 2017 Henrietta has been able to base herself in Spain during the winter months so that the British weather wouldn’t restrict her training. She still commuted back to the UK and Western Europe for velodrome racing. Between March & September she is racing for Swabo Ladies, a continental Dutch team and is now based in Holland.

All of the above travelling, training, racing is self funded although she has been lucky enough to secure some David Rayner funding to help financially.

Henrietta aims to progress onto a UCI team in 2018/19 whereupon she will eventually get a salary, equipment support and World Tour race opportunities and her ultimate ambition is to get to the Olympics and become a pro woman cyclist.

When we first heard about Henrietta she was in need of funds to be able to repay her Father for her new race bike. Her old bike, whilst being very well looked after, was very much a ‘weapon of war’ and had been retired to be her training bike. Unfortunately a spot of bad luck hit whilst we were chatting to Henrietta. Her training bike was stolen! Plans changed and Epic Kidz were able to donate £500 to Henrietta to allow her to purchase a new training bike.

We are very much looking forward to watching Henrietta’s cycling career develop. She is definitely one to watch for the future.

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At the end of April Epic Events hosted Horwich Triathlon. The event is one of the North Wests longest established races and is a tough little challenge. This year’s event was also the beginning of the Epic Club Championships. A few of you might have spotted their You Tube video where Mr T explained the rules! Together with a huge trophy, the winning club also got to donate £1000 to a cause of their choice. Despite some underhand (or clever) tactics from some of the local triathlon clubs the eventual winner was Tri Preston, a triathlon club based in Preston.

After celebrating their win all evening, Tri Preston eventually decided to support two causes which are close to their members hearts. The first cause was Cluster Headaches. Around 0.2% of the population suffer from Cluster Headaches and it is a lifelong condition which, at present, is incurable. The pain involved is probably one of the most painful conditions known to humans. A £500 donation was made to Ouch UK.

The second cause was the National Autistic Society. Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people and how they experience the world around them. Again, a £500 donation was made to the National Autistic Society.

The Epic Club Championships will be run every year in conjunction with Horwich Triathlon and we are very much looking forward to making many more great donations in the future.

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