Member Article

Flextronics nets over £30,000 for Clatterbridge

A charity football match featuring some of the stars from TV’s Hollyoaks, former Everton legend Graham Stuart and ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey, has ­helped Appleton-based supply chain solutions specialist Flextronics to boost its fundraising total for The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity to over £30,000.

The game, played at the Runcorn Linnets Stadium, netted £4,000 for the Flextronics-nominated charity, with hundreds of fans braving the cold to show their support and meet the cast.

The event was the highlight of a twelve-month Flextronics fundraising campaign on behalf of the charity.

Flextronics’ Joe Hitchmough organised the match with the help of Hollyoaks longest serving cast member, Nick Pickard (Tony Hutchinson).

Joe said: “Clatterbridge is a charity that has a lot of personal significance to members of staff here and, as soon as it was confirmed as our Charity of the Year, we pledged that we would do something a little bit different to raise a lot of money. I knew that Nick organised charity matches and thankfully he was very happy to get the cast on board.

“The Hollyoaks cast has been brilliant, tweeting pictures of themselves supporting Clatterbridge and promoting the match, in fact everyone has, no-one’s really said no, from Graham Stuart to Mark Halsey, everyone has given their time and pulled together to make the match a success.

“On behalf of Flextronics I’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part, helped organise or bought a ticket – it all counts and together we’ve raised an incredible amount of money for Clatterbridge.”

Among the goals were Fabrizio Santino (Ziggy Roscoe in the soap) and new cast member Duayne Boachie (Zach Loveday) while former Premier League referee Mark Halsey officiated.

Jade Barrett, Area Fundraising Manager at The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, said: “The night was a fantastic success. We have been incredibly lucky to receive support from Flextronics employees for the past 12 months. The £30,000 raised in total has made a huge difference to the lives of patients, helping fund equipment, research and extra support services that would otherwise be unavailable. We cannot thank our friends at Flextronics enough.”

The three mascots were children of Flextronics staff and a cheque was presented by Materials Handler Dave Edwards’ 11-year-old daughter Lauren, who had raised £545 by being sponsored not to indulge in her favourite treat – Magnum ice-creams!

All proceeds from ticket sales, as well as a half-time raffle, cakes sale and other fundraising activities, went to Clatterbridge, adding to the total raised throughout the year by staff at Flextronics.

Pre-match and half-time entertainment was provided by Halton Street Soccer, the Carol Barton Dance Troupe, the Surpreme Starlights Cheerleaders and the Golborne Brass Bandbrass brand. Commentary was provided by Dominic Walker and the team at WireFM, who also announced the teams and made the post-match presentations.

The Birchwood Lions also volunteered on the night, helping with parking and selling programmes.

You can still donate to the cause via JustGiving:

www.justgiving.com/hollyoaksvflextronics

For more information about Flextronics, visit: www.flextronics.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Elle Brunton .