CHILDREN’S DELIGHT AS HEROES ARRIVE

On Sunday 2nd July the Pendle Powerfest Horsepower Heroes Convoy set off from Barrowford in East Lancashire to take toys to local hospitals in a 100 mile round trip rolling motorshow.

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Due to the success of this year’s family motorshow the team are donating £500 each to Royal Blackburn Teaching & Burnley General Teaching, Royal Preston, Airedale General, Manchester Children’s, Alder Hey Children’s and Northampton Hospitals and Derian House Children’s Hospice.

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The group of organisers and volunteers met up with their cars and bikes including two staff members from Lloyd BMW dressed as The Flash and Deadpool, before leaving in a spectacular convoy of sound and colour creating a rolling motorshow with people watching and waving along the route.

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 “To see and hear all the vehicles all ready to go was just fantastic, after all the work we have put into this year’s fundraising, to finish off with this is brilliant!” said organiser Chris Walker.

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The convoy’s first stop at Royal Blackburn Hospital delivered much needed toys to their children’s wards complimented by the £500 donation to ensure a sustained supply of entertainment to those children unfortunate enough to end up in hospital. The team were welcomed into the ward with the accompanying toys delivered by a miniature land rover driven by Winnie-the-Pooh along with superheroes making everyone smile as they walked through the wards. The children and families were welcomed along to the presentation before being taken outside to see the vehicles.

 

Once outside the children were presented with a riot of sounds, shapes and colours as the assembled convoy sat glinting in the sunshine waiting for them to explore. From superbikes and cars to classic two seat convertibles the children loved exploring the vehicles with friendly owners encouraging them to sit in (or on) their machines. The smiles of delight from the children and staff made the whole venture wholly worthwhile.

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The team then moved on to Royal Preston Hospital and repeated the whole experience.

“What you have done today is absolutely wonderful, thank you!” said Pam, a play nurse at Royal Preston Hospital. 

After enjoying the visit to Preston the team set off on a nice hour’s drive over to Airedale General for the final stop. They arrived at a closed off car park in front of the children’s ward to a hero’s welcome; with staff, children and families lining the route with cameras, smiles and cheers greeting the noisy cavalcade of machines. It made a fitting end to the team’s journey, with another presentation of toys and a £500 voucher putting even more smiles on people’s faces.

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The idea was inspired by the entertainment manager Lee Tombling’s late sister Amy’s idea of providing toys in children’s wards out of her own pocket. The team took on the challenge of servicing as many hospitals and hospices in the local area as they could plus Northampton where Amy had been a regular visitor. All of the donated toys will carry a sticker with the words “Simply Amy” on them in recognition of her idea.

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Pendle Powerfest is run by a team of volunteers who spend a long time planning and organising something they feel is unique to the area. Made up of people with diverse backgrounds and interests they tirelessly work towards making the day out appeal to everyone and raise lots of money for their chosen causes.

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“We would like to thank everyone who has made any contribution to this year’s fundraising. From sponsors, exhibitors and traders to people who came to our events it all has helped us make a real difference in the North West” said organiser, Chris Walker.

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