Ipswich Ladies Netball Club Chair Avril Gray (left) with daughter and club member Hannah
Members of the Ipswich Ladies Netball Club have completed more than one million passes in six weeks as part of its #MillionPassChallenge in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice.
The club’s teams competed against each other every week from 5 June to see who could do the most passes and raised a fantastic £2,750 in the process.
Family and friends of all ages, from babies and toddlers to grandparents over 80 years old, were encouraged to get involved and help reach the one million target – all in accordance with socially distanced guidelines.
Club Chair Avril Gray, who set the challenge, said: “We wanted to do something during the Covid-19 pandemic that would give members a fun focus and bring us together as a club. It was obviously a shock for everyone to have to go into lockdown and our players have been missing their regular training and games as well as the social aspect of getting together each week.
“The #MillionPassChallenge gave us something big to aim for, and meant players could practice a key netball skill while having some fun along the way. They really stepped up and creatively used multiple people and balls to get the passes up, with individuals making good use of wall passes if on their own.”
All together members achieved 1,162,733 passes by the deadline of Friday, 17 July.
Avril continued: “We wanted to raise money for St Elizabeth Hospice at a time where its own ability to fundraise has been limited due to the pandemic. The charity has directly looked after club members who are sadly no longer with us and for that we are really grateful. A huge well done and thank you to those who supported the challenge, either by passing, donating or both – players past and present, their families, friends, neighbours, and players at other local clubs.”
St Elizabeth Hospice is an independent Suffolk charity providing free services to improve life for people living with a progressive or life limiting illness. Centred on an individual’s needs, the hospice provides specialist support, whenever and wherever it is needed, whether at home, in the community or at the hospice.
Joanne Rodger, Events and Challenges Manager at St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “This is a brilliant effort by Ipswich Ladies Netball Club and our thanks go to everyone who took part in the challenge and to the wider community for their support.
“Throughout lockdown we have seen a tremendous response from the local public getting behind our #HereTogether appeal. A campaign we started in order to help raise funds during the pandemic which saw many of our income streams, including charity shops and fundraising events, being temporarily shut or postponed.”
To donate search for Ipswich Ladies Netball Club on www.justgiving.com.
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