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‘Pedal us to Glory’ TV star Jesse McClure’s cycle sprint for Accrington Stanley

Storage Hunters star Jesse McClure and his agent Murray Dawson (pictured) will cycle from Blackpool FC to Accrington Stanley FC on Saturday in the first event of a £40,000 fundraising bid.

The pedal-powered pair hopes their efforts will put £500 in the pot of the OASSC’s (Official Accrington Stanley Supporters Club) project #upinlights – which aims to provide an electric scoreboard facility at the Wham Stadium.

Joining them on the 58km ‘Pedal us to Glory’ ride will be Accrington Stanley’s Managing Director, David Burgess.

Says Jesse: “We hope to raise around £500 in sponsorship – although I still haven’t actually got a road bike yet! So if anyone has one they are willing to lend me – get in touch!

“If we raise more than £5,000, Murray and I will do the ride on his vintage 1970s Grifter and Chopper bikes.”

Jesse, whose new TV show British Treasure, American Gold, premieres on Quest on October 19^th, adds: “If we raise more than £6,000 we’ll do it on a tandem. We haven’t discussed how much it would take to do it on a unicycle!”

Jesse’s agent Murray, Managing Director of Scott Dawson Advertising, said: “I wouldn’t say we’ve exactly been training hard– but a couple of laps around the car park – and we’re ready to do what we can to help the Club.

“As part of our Accrington Civic Pride initiative we were happy to print raffle tickets and flyers free of charge, as well as raise sponsorship deals, and help the official supporters club get closer to their £40,000 goal.”

The OASSC’S 2016/17 fundraising campaign #upinlights, include raffles, events and sponsorship.

The first on the agenda is the sponsored bike ride; Pedal us to Glory, which will start at Blackpool Football Club at 8.45am back to the Wham Stadium arriving before the League 2 fixture between the two clubs at 3pm on Saturday 15^th October.

Fans can sponsor riders or purchase a raffle draw ticket, price £2, which will be on sale on match day or from committee members.

The draw will be made at half time at the Blackpool game and the prizes are:

Mascot package for ASFC fixture
2016/17 squad signed home shirt
£50 voucher for Extreme Ladieswear in Accrington
24″ Colour television.
£20 voucher for Oriental Delight restaurant in Clayton-le-Moors

You can sponsor Jesse and Murray at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/murray-dawson

Or to find out about other events being organised by the OASSC, you can contact fundraising coordinator Mark Brennan 07913 080974 or via email markdonbrennan@gmail.com

Scott Dawson Advertising appointed to handle Accrington Stanley sponsorship

Historic local football club Accrington Stanley has appointed Scott Dawson Advertising to handle all their sponsorship as they aim to build on the phenomenal success of their 2015/16 season.

In an exciting season in which the League Two club attracted a new majority shareholder and got to the play-offs, the footballing world took notice of Accrington Stanley and the community spirit that surrounds it. Now the club is keen to build on its most successful season yet in the newly named English Football League by attracting sponsorship from local businesses.

David Burgess, Managing Director at Accrington Stanley FC, said:

“In the last 12 months we’ve attracted a new majority shareholder in Andy Holt whose investment has helped to secure a future for Accrington Stanley. We’ve attracted sponsorship from Andy Holt’s plastics manufacturing business What More UK and also from PlasticBoxShop, our shirt sponsor.

“Now we’re keen to work with other local businesses and have a range of sponsorship options available, or can tailor packages to suit them. We’ve appointed Murray Dawson to handle all our sponsorship since he’s very well connected locally and, as a Hyndburn lad himself, has the club’s best interests at heart.”

Murray Dawson, Managing Director of Scott Dawson Advertising, was instrumental in helping Accrington Stanley to begin building the relationship with Andy Holt which saw him take a majority share position of the club. Scott Dawson Advertising also brought to the club the current What More and PlasticBoxShop sponsorship deals, and has worked on the shirt sponsorship deal for the last five years.

Murray Dawson said:

“I became involved with Accrington Stanley through what I like to call our ‘community pride’ initiative. I’m a local lad, having grown up just down the road from Stanley in Clayton, and genuinely want to see the club do well. They had a wonderful first season with Andy Holt at the helm and that’s done a massive amount for the supporters and for community spirit. We’re keen to keep the momentum going, and I’m delighted that we’re now officially handling sponsorship on the club’s behalf.”

Scott Dawson Advertising will manage all sponsorship for Accrington Stanley for the next two years. Packages range from £100 up to £100,000, offering something to all sizes and types of businesses, from local tradespeople to international companies.

Business have the opportunity to sponsor individual matches, as well as match day programmes, the football, and the Accrington Stanley website.

Larger deals are on offer for the sponsorship of stands at the Wham Stadium. The club is hoping to attract sponsorship of £20,000 for the naming rights of the Clayton End stand which is currently undergoing major refurbishment work to return it to a standing terrace. Sponsorship of the Jack Barrett stand, which is being kitted out with new seating over the summer, is also available, as is that of the Coppice Terrace away supporters’ stand.

Murray added:

“Out of over 1,800 registered businesses in Hyndburn, there are over 250 with an asset value of over a million pounds. I’m hopeful that many of these will engage with the club by getting behind it financially. The sponsorship opportunities on offer will put their branding in front of the increasing number of supporters who pack into the Wham Stadium each match day, as well as those who support from afar. In the case of televised matches throughout the season, the audience is into the millions.”

For more information about Accrington Stanley sponsorship opportunities, businesses should get in touch with Murray Dawson at Scott Dawson Advertising by calling (01282) 426846 or emailing murray@scottdawson.co.uk.

To find out more about major refurbishment of the Wham Stadium over the summer, including the laying of a new pitch, visit the Accrington Stanley website www.accringtonstanley.co.uk.

Accrington Food Festival bursting with international flavours!

This weekend’s Accrington Food & Drink Festival will bring flavours from across the world to the heart of the town.

Let your taste buds travel with over 75 stalls of the finest food and drink from France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria, India – and beyond!

The food and drink festival on Saturday 4 June is a FREE ENTRY family event with something to appeal to all tastes and appetites. From Malaysian street food to authentic Italian pizza, savoury Turkish treats to Mexican churros, there’s a wide variety of international flavours on offer – plus local dishes too.

Murray Dawson of East Lancashire based Scott Dawson Advertising, organisers of the Accrington Food & Drink Festival, said:

“I’m an Accrington lad myself and keen for the food and drink festival to be a huge success, as part of our civic pride initiative. We’ve been working hard to top last year’s very successful event, bringing together a food market full of flavour for festival visitors.

Sweet treats will be on offer, including tasty crepes and pancakes

“Accrington’s 2015 food festival attracted over 10,000 people into the town centre. This year’s event is set to be even bigger and better, and with good weather forecast for the weekend we’re sure plenty of people from across Lancashire will come and join the fun.”

In addition to all the tempting smells and flavours of the food market, there’s a lot more to appeal to all the senses.

Watch the live cookery demonstrations in the theatre kitchen on Broadway. Celebrity chef Richard Fox will host a series of demos throughout the day from local chefs, as well as showcasing two of his own original recipes too.

Younger visitors to the festival can get creative in the Cakelicious children’s cake decorating competition in Accrington Market Hall. Bugs are the theme of this year’s competition, run by tutors and students from the new Roots Restaurant at Accrington & Rossendale College. It’s free to enter and one lucky winner will receive a sweet hamper from Sweet Treat Designs on Water Street.

Children can also get involved in the Dig For Victory seedling planting activity with Incredible Edibles and the Sandy Lane Gardening Group, which is taking place all day in the town centre.

A lively World War 2 re-enactment will take place in St James’ Church grounds at 1pm. It could be the last chance to see re-enactors with their deactivated guns following changes to EU rules regarding deactivated weapons. There’s also the chance to see a classic MkIX Spitfire plane outside the Town Hall, celebrating the 80^th anniversary of the RAF’s iconic Battle of Britain fighter’s first flight. Plus, commemorating the Accrington Pals centenary, actors the History Men, dressed as Accrington Pals soldiers, will be out and about in the town all day to add to the wartime flavour.

Oh My! are bringing their Malaysian street food to Accrington Food & Drink festival this weekend

And when it’s time to work off some calories, sponsor Simon Jersey’s Ride To Rio bikes will be in the Arndale. As designers of Team GB’s formal outfits for Rio 2016, Simon Jersey has set itself the challenge to pedal the 9,395 kilometres from their offices in Altham to the Brazilian capital. Visitors to the food festival can show their pedal power on the two Ride to Rio exercise bikes.

Free transport to the food festival is available on board a beautifully restored 1968 Leyland Titan double-decker bus from pick-up points in Great Harwood, Rishton, Baxenden, Church, Clayton-le-Moors, Huncoat, Oswaldtwistle, Rawtenstall and Haslingden.

Full details of the event on Saturday 4 June – including how to book a seat on this classic bus – are available at www.accringtonfoodfestival.co.uk. Festival programmes have also been delivered to around 35,000 local homes and 40 schools.

Keep in touch with news from Accrington Food Festival on the event’s Facebook page, or follow @accringtonfood on Twitter and Instagram.