Accrington Stanley have now handed out more than 10,000 free replica shirts to local children following its ninth annual Big Shirt Giveaway, which was held at the Wham Stadium on Tuesday.
The event, which welcomed over 1,200 Year 3 pupils from 41 local schools, was made even more special by the attendance of the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, Mrs Amanda Parker JP and the Vice Lord-Lieutenant, Brigadier (Retired) Peter S Rafferty MBE DL.
Children were given the chance to visit the Wham Stadium, meet players and staff and collect their brand-new Accrington Stanley shirt, proudly featuring sponsors What More UK, Accrington Stanley Community Trust, Telana and Hyndburn Borough Council.
In addition, every child received a goodie bag, collated by Official Accrington Stanley Supporters Trust volunteers and provided by North Lancs Training Group (NLTG). These included lunchboxes from What More UK, fruit and bottled water from James Hall, flags from NLTG and sunglasses and pens from BRSK.
Each school also enjoyed a professional class photo taken inside the Eric Whalley Family Stand by Scott Dawson Advertising. To ensure the success of the day, contributions towards transport were provided by Haworths Financial Services, Hyndburn Borough Council, Lancashire County Council and the Duchy of Lancaster.
The initiative, now in its ninth year, aims to inspire children across Hyndburn to get involved in sport, live active lifestyles, and feel connected to their local EFL League Two club.
Mrs Amanda Parker, Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire commented: ”This is a fabulous initiative from what I would describe as one of the most community-focused clubs in the country. Certainly in Lancashire, they are famous for many, many good reasons. They’ve always been special to me, I’ve grown up in the area. Accrington Stanley has this superb name for working with local businesses and local schools, and to see this, hundreds more children getting shirts today is absolutely superb. Well done, Accrington!”
Accrington Stanley CEO, Warren Eastham, said: “We are incredibly proud to have now handed out over 10,000 free shirts to local schoolchildren. This initiative has become a cornerstone of our community work and it’s fantastic to see the impact.
“Without our partners, these events don’t happen. I must say, it’s a fantastic event with some fantastic people, and it’s great to see the kids here today, and hopefully, they will become fans of Accrington Stanley in the future!”
Murray Dawson, Managing Director at Scott Dawson Advertising, said: “It was a great honour to welcome the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire and Vice Lord-Lieutenant to this year’s event. Their presence really highlighted the importance of the Big Shirt Giveaway and what it means to the local community.”
