A FOOTBALL coach is aiming to run 5km every day of the year as part of a £5,000 fundraiser plea for his local disabled football club.
28-year-old Tom Dore established his fundraiser at the start of the year with the aim of supplying local side Powerchair Sale United with at least one new powerchair for their players.
Powerchair Sale United became the first grassroots club in the UK to establish a powerchair team back in 2008, after a parent of a Sale United FC player highlighted that his twin brother had spinal atrophy.
This meant he was dependent on a wheelchair for mobility, but was desperate to play football – so within the space of six months, Powerchair Sale United were formed.
Since then the club have competed in the North West Powerchair League and in 2017 even partnered with Manchester United to create a second team running under the latter’s name.
However, the club now find themselves requiring financial assistance as each powerchair costs around £5,000 to purchase – which Tom is looking to help out with.
The description of the GoFundMe campaign explains Tom’s goal: “A little about the team, players range in ages and also disabilities, the team do a fantastic job with the coaching and training matches provided for the players.
“Unfortunately due to the cost of the adapted chairs it means the players have to share the chairs.
“This is a lot more difficult than it sounds as some of the players need to use a hoist to get in and out of the chair and also then having to change the controls on the chair to suit the individual.
“The chairs unfortunately are expensive and beyond the reaches of some of the families of the players.”
Speaking today Tom said: “I’m running a minimum 5km every day this year to raise money for Sale United’s Powerchair Football Club, with the intention to raise as much money as possible to best support the club in terms of fundraising to buy one or maybe even two powerchairs.
“The powerchairs themselves are very expensive and come in at around £5,000 – these are adapted electric wheelchairs with a cage built onto the front which is used to hit the ball.
“Unfortunately because of how expensive these chairs are it puts pressure on the club and their families.
“This means a lot of the players are sharing the chairs and because of some of the severity of the disabilities it means it takes ages to change over the chair users and means less playing time for the players.
“I run a small coaching company in Lymm, Cheshire and I never really understood how fortunate I am in terms of growing up with sport.
“I was always able to chuck my boots on, grab a ball and away I went onto a field.
“All the players I coach now it’s the same story really so I wanted to try and maximise the amount of time these players got in their chairs to be able to play the sport they love.
“I’ve been running with people in the community and trying to spread the word by mouth as well really and raise some awareness at the same time too.”
Sale United responded to Tom’s efforts saying: “Huge thank you to Tom Dore who will be fundraising for our club by running 5km a day, every day of the 2023 year.
“Everyone at Sale United PFC is supporting you all the way, Go and smash it Tom!”
Currently, Tom has raised £3,320 of the £5,000 target.
If you wish to support Tom’s GoFundMe efforts, please visit: https://gofund.me/eaec0899
