SPORT in the Community!
01 Dec 2010
SPORT Manchester has recently been raising money and hosting community events in Manchester
Santa Dash
On Saturday 27 November, the Armitage Site played host to The Co-operative Santa Dash. The event was supported by Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas and almost 1000 men and women, who ran, jogged, danced and walked the 5k course around Platt Field Park dressed in Santa costumes. The event raised £30,000 for Mencap and was enjoyed by a wide range of the community.
If you are interested in running the 5k route (in a Santa costume or not!) then it is the same route that SPORT Manchester uses for its parkrun every Saturday morning at 9am. For further details, please visit:
Photo: Winners of ‘The Co-operative Santa Dash’ - Far left and far right Grace Fisher and Ashleigh Williams – friends and students from The University of Manchester - who crossed the line together in 22.3 minutes, pictured with Coronation Street’s Ryan Thomas (second left) and the fastest male runner, Ian Symington.
Children in Need Fastnet Tournament
On Friday 19 November, SPORT Manchester and StaffNet hosted a charity Fastnet tournament for staff at The University of Manchester. The tournament was mixed sex and saw academic, support and STARS members of staff pit against each other in a series of 10 minute games. 45 members of staff took part in the competition and bought with them a whole host of supporters to help give the tournament a festival like atmosphere.
Sheryl Thompson, event organiser, said, "The aim of the event was to raise some money for Children in Need in a fun and sociable way. The University has lots of staff but we don’t often get to mix with people from outside our departments. Playing sport is a great way to meet people, break down boundaries and to have fun in an active way. The most rewarding part of the day was seeing everyone very determined on the court but then having huge smiles on their faces after they had taken part.
Although the event was supported by Staffnet (The University of Manchester Staff Netball Squad) a lot of the people taking part in the event were new to netball and the fastnet rules added a fun element to the game. It was good to see beginners enjoying a new sport."
The event managed to raise £163 for Children in Need.
After the event lots of staff asked about how they could take part in more sport activities so SPORT Manchester is working on delivering you a series of fundraising events in the New Year, starting with Pop Lacrosse. Look out for further details in AllStars!
If you are interested in getting back into Netball and would like further details on our staff netball team, please email:
On behalf of everyone who took part in the event I would like to say a special thanks to The Sugden Sports Centre who donated £35 worth of court hire to the event and Nicola Reeves and Imogen Williams who volunteered as umpires at the event.