A care organisation has kicked off a fundraising campaign for a much-loved football club in which once included ex-Welsh international Robbie Savage in its ranks.
Wrexham-based Pendine Park has donated half the cash needed to buy new kit for the town’s Brickfield Rangers girls under 12s team.
The squad, which has lately enjoyed a winning streak, needs £800 for the new kit.
But team coach Dave Hooson said raising the full amount has been a tough ask given the cost of living crisis increasingly hitting families across the region.
That’s why he was overjoyed when the award-winning care group stepped in with an offer to provide £400 from Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT).
The trust was set up by Pendine Park owners, Mario Kreft MBE and his wife Gill, to support cultural pursuits and community activities in north Wales.
The Trust was prompted to act after hearing about the girls’ plight from care practitioner Stacey Sutton, a long-standing member of the Pendine Park staff.
Stacey said she decided to ask for help from PACT because her daughter, Halle, is in the Brickfield Girls Under 12s team.
Stacey said: “They are desperate for new kit and when Halle came home and told me they were going to have to launch a fund-raising campaign I thought I would approach the trust just to see if they could help with some sponsorship.
“When the Trust said yes we were all absolutely delighted. It really means a lot to the girls and to coach Dave, not just to have new kit, but to know they have such support locally.”
The club aims to raise the remaining £400 through charity events including a bingo evening.
Dave Hooson added: “I cannot express how thankful we all are at the club to have such a generous donation.
“We are a community organisation living from hand to mouth in many ways. Every penny donated is used to keep the club alive and a gift like this does so much to lift our morale.”
Dave’s father Paul Hooson is the club chairman and a Brickfield Rangers veteran. He remembers the club being launched in 1976 with the teams playing in stand-out green and white colours. They are now based at Clywedog Park, Homestead Lane, Wrexham.
Brickfield Rangers once included former Wales midfield hero Robbie Savage among its ranks when he was a promising schoolboy footballer.
The club has expanded greatly since the seventies when it comprised just one youth team in the Wrexham Youth League. The club now boasts more than 20 teams, and more than 400 players, male and female, competing at all levels and age groups.
They range from under fives to under 16s playing in the Wrexham District Youth Football League, and under 12s to under 16s girls teams playing in the North Wales Girls Football League.
It is one of the few community clubs to achieve Gold standard in the Football Association of Wales accreditation scheme.
In addition to a bumper bingo night, the club, which achieved charity status in 2012, is appealing for donations to help raise the remainder of the £800 needed for the new kit, and anything raised above that amount will go into club funds.
Pendine Park Artist in Residence Sarah Edwards said the Pendine Arts and Community Trust was proud to offer the £400 sponsorship to the girls team.
She said: “PACT was established to help community associations just like this which do so much to provide positive forms of recreation and skills-learning for young people.
“We are happy to help this young girls team and hopefully watch them go from success to success. Who knows maybe one day we may see some of these young players representing Wales in the Euros or World Cup tournaments of future years. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season and beyond.”
For more information about the club and how to help with the fundraising campaign donations or sponsorship contact coach Dave on 07799706348.
