Freckleton Juniors under 14s are raising money to go on a European Tour next summer and one of our trustees, Kate Jackson, is throwing herself into the trip, literally!
Kate and a couple of other parents are completing a 7,000 foot skydive on Sunday October 27th to help raise money to take the boys on a once in a lifetime trip.
To find out more about Kate and her role at the Foundation, please head to the trustees section of our website.
Freckleton Juniors u14s have grown up playing together under the same team for years and they have considered organising a trip like this for a while but busy lives have got in the way until now, with the team believing this is the perfect time.
The team are planning to go Brega in Holland over the Easter weekend of 2025. They are travelling via coach which is a journey that is "too long" according to some parents!
Kate said: "As a trustee of AFC Fylde Community Foundation I am passionate about how football brings people and communities together, creating friendships and embedding the importance of sport for health and wellbeing.
"What the management team and parents of Freckleton Juniors U14s are doing to raise money to create a lifetime memory for their children epitomises these values and I am proud to play a small part in both clubs."
Freckleton Juniors u14s train down at Fylde Sports and Education Centre on a Friday between 17:30-18:30 so we took the opportunity to catch up with the manager, Craig Hart and assistant manager, Danny Snape.
The latter, Danny, is running to every home and away fixture Freckleton have this season to help raise money for their European Tour.
He's had a tough time over the last few weeks having to run to Fishers field in Blackpool, an eight mile journey, a 13 mile run for an away day Over Wyre and the furthest was a huge 18 mile away day in the Lancashire Cup to Mill Hill in Blackburn.
Danny (pictured below) said: "It's been challenging I won't lie. My calves are killing at the moment, I'm due to see a sports therapist soon.
"We mapped our route out in advance, I was the only one running, however, Craig (the manager), Mark and Lee, two of the parents cycled alongside me - it was a 10:00 kick off so we set off at 05:30"
Despite it originally only meant to be Danny running, Craig said: "When Danny first mentioned running to every game I immediately thought 'don't you dare get me involved in this' but there's definitely going to be a few special guest appearances from myself throughout the season.
"No one felt comfortable letting Danny run 18 miles on his own so I said I'd bike it with him and a couple of other parents have got involved which is great to see."
When the manager was questioned about whether he would be participating in the skydive, he responded by saying: "Absolutely not! Not a chance! I'm not scared of heights it's just something that doesn't sit very well with me. With us doing the half marathon in the summer and with Danny's running, we kind of thought we've done our bit and we'll let the others throw themselves out of a plane!
"It's a challenge and a half from everyone involved and it just shows the dedication we've all got, to give these kids a fantastic trip!"
Their fundraising is currently sitting around £2500, with the main target some distance away yet, Craig has said they will be over the moon if they can even get half: "The target is to get the boys there free of charge, so the parents only have to worry about paying for themselves or any siblings that are coming along.
"That works out at about £6000 that we need to raise, which is very ambitious but if we can get even half of that we'll be very happy.
"Hopefully it will be great memories for the rest of their life when they look back and think of this tour, and at the end of the day that's what it's all about."
Danny also added: "For the boys and for myself, we're just trying to get as much money raised as possible so it takes some of the burden away from the parents."
Danny is completing an Ultra marathon called, The Lap in May, it is around Lake Windermere for 24 hours. Despite it being after the trip, he is still going to complete it as a way to help raise funds.
If you wish to donate to their European Tour and help make memories to last a lifetime, please click here.
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