BTEC: Pool 2 Paris

Blackpool FC Community Trust BTEC students are putting together a charity fundraiser, raising money for Donna’s Dream House, who are a local based charity. 

We are biking and rowing 550miles (the distance from Blackpool Tower to Eiffel Tower) to raise money for Donna’s Dream House.  We are completing the miles in college but will finish the last 60 miles on Tuesday 25thFebruary 2020 on the match day against Blackpool FC and Bolton. We will be based in the Education and Community Centre at the stadium.

Donna’s Dream House provides free holiday experiences for children and teenagers with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Whilst the voluntary team of Donna’s Dream House provides the expertise, enthusiasm and administration. They also bring sunshine and fun into children’s lives, a sense of wonder, adventure, laughter and a much-needed holiday in Blackpool for families.

We were given a tour around Donna’s Dream House by the CEO Glenn who was Donna’s father. He was very passionate, down to earth and very open about everything that happens there. He took us around many themed rooms e.g. Disney room, sweet shop room and a little cinema with seats from a theatre and a hot tub. He told us how they gained money through donations and not through government funding.

This is one of the reasons we picked Donna’s Dream House as we felt like the donations we may receive would help them a lot to either maintain the facilities or help build something new. All the rooms had en-suite bathrooms and were very special and unique.  The outside area was very nice and included former illuminations, a memory garden which had a log flume with carp fish in the water.  Looking round it was what you would expect from a really good hotel.

So far we have raised £310 on our GoFundMe page. We have already adjusted our GoFundMe target from £250 to £500 and this will hopefully continue to rise. As well as this, we have raised between £150-200 in bucket collection. We are currently collecting items for a charity auction as well from a host of names such as Charlie Adam, Brian Rose and Ian Evatt as well as items from Blackpool Football Club and Fleetwood Town Football Club.

You can get in touch with regards to our fundraiser via twitter, our page is @pool2paris. Here you will find a link to our GoFundMe if you wish to donate money or DM us regarding items for our donations.

We hope many people will support us on our journey and we are ready for the challenges ahead. The final miles will be completed at the Blackpool FC vs Bolton Wanderers match. Feel free to come by the Education and Community Centre to show your support prior to the home match!

Written by Joe Shaw – Blackpool FC Community Sports College BTEC student.