Shop’s goal to help girls’ team
9:01am Thursday 29th July 2010 in News
A GIRLS’ football team is to get new kit and coaching after a supermarket raised £750 at a fun day.
SMS Stores in Crompton Way has been raising money to support Bolton Indian Girls Football Club and presented them with a cheque at a fun day.
The shop started raising cash when it opened 18 months ago by putting aside about 5p from some products which, over the past year-and-a-half has mounted up to £749.49.
Staff have been working with charity Make a Difference Locally (MADL) to raise the money for the team.
John Sharpe, of MADL, paid tribute to the fundraisers. “It is really fantastic to see retailers embracing the MADL charity.
“The charity can help retailers make a real difference in their local communities and I am sure the £750 donation from SMS stores to Bolton Indian Girls Football Club will make a considerable difference to the young peoples’ lives.”
The Mayor of Bolton, Cllr John Byrne attended the cheque presentation at the store, where there was a raffle, funfair rides, slides and a trampoline.
It also held a coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support which raised almost £100.
Store manager Ken Naran said: “The Asian community needs to get out and about and the boys’ football teams always seem to get sponsored.
“You rarely see girls’ teams so we thought it would be good to support them, to get them involved in sports and to get socialising.”
About 26 girls play for the club, which has been running for five years.
They compete in national tournaments and have recently won a tournament in London.
Team secretary Vanita Vekaria said: “We are really grateful that they sponsored us, and also asked the mayor to come along, it was really good of the store to arrange that.”
