Cycling, swimming and squelching for Shaw!
Reporter: GILLIAN POTTS
Date published: 10 July 2012
Photo: Pictures: CHRIS SUNDERLAND
SADDLED UP: Aaron Buckley (centre, in red) with fellow cyclists at the start of their sponsored bike ride from Shaw to Blackpool.
KIND-HEARTED residents continue help those devastated by the Shaw gas explosion.
And no one has gone further — literally — than Aaron Buckley (27) and his band of trusty volunteer riders, who cycled from Shaw to Blackpool on Sunday.
Aaron, originally from Royton but now living in Manchester, organised the epic journey from the Shay Wake pub, and around 20 people saddled up for the challenge, which it is hoped will have raised raised several thousand pounds.
“The weather was pretty fine. In fact we were praying for rain to cool us down, but everyone managed it, that was the main thing. Good on everyone who took part.”
::Eight-year-old Jack Hanley, from Laburnum Avenue, in Shaw, did a sponsored swim to raise money for the fund.
The Crompton Primary School youngster swam just over a mile — around 68 lengths — in an hour and raised over £1,000 after organising the whole event himself.
::Royton-based food distribution company Bidvest were quick off the mark to help the blast victims and have been fund-raising for the Distress Fund since its launch.
Apart from donating £1,000 of food to Crompton House to help feed residents on the day of the blast, bosses and staff held raffles and collections for the cause.
“It was something everyone felt they wanted to do,” said financial director Colin Jones. “We raised around £1,700 and the company made that up to £3,000.”
::Carla Cox and her family and friends found a squelchy way to generate some cash — a sponsored “wellies full of baked beans” walk!
Carla, whose daughter Keira went to nursery with tragic tot Jamie Heaton, decided to do the stunt to raise money for the two-year-old’s family.
The generous bunch walked from Shaw’s Asda store — which donated baked beans and collection buckets to the cause — to Oldham Sports Centre and raised hundreds of pounds.
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