A Special Guest At Ashton Athletic
Thu 2nd April 2015 | Ashton Athletic | By Ian Templeman
Ashton Athletic welcomed a very special guest to their game against AFC Liverpool at Brocstedes Park last Saturday.
Attending the game was Alfie Lund, a 6 year old boy from Burscough, who suffers from MECP2 Duplication syndrome, a rare chromosone abnormality which occurs almost exclusively in boys. He cannot walk or talk and has profound and complex learning difficulties.
Children with MECP2 duplication are all affected slightly differently, but there are common features, such as lack of speech, learning difficulty and progressive neurological conditions such a seizures and increased muscle spasticity.
To raise awareness of Alfie and the condition, The Alfie Lund Fund has been set up to raise money for specialist equipment for Alfie, and help other families cope with the condition
As part of their efforts, supporters of the Fund have set themselves the challenge of creating the longest chain of football related items in the world during the 2014/15 football season, with the aim of submitting a claim to the Guinness World Records at the end of the season.
To date this season, they have visited Macclesfield Town, Southport, Burscough. Blackpool, Wigan Athletic, and Skelmersdale United among others, and added Ashton Athletic to the list of clubs last weekend.
The link up with Ashton Athletic came through club Secretary Alan Greenhalgh, who during the week drives a minibus that takes special needs children to their various schools. Alfie Lund is one of the children who travels with Alan each day, and through that Alan got to know his father Mark, and arranged the visit.
Alan said: “Alfie came down with his father Mark and older brother Cameron, and they really enjoyed their visit.
“They spread their chain of scarves around the ground, and then Alfie led the teams out and joined in some photographs. He certainly enjoyed the half time refreshments, especially the sausage rolls.
“I must give a special mention to AFC Liverpool who thoroughly supported the event, presented them with one of their scarves and even invited them to one of their home games which they respectfully accepted.
“A collection was arranged with a good gate present, and they collected well over £100 with both sets of supporters giving generously to the good cause.
“If any more NWCFL clubs would like to get involved with the chain challenge, they can contact me and I'll put them in touch with Mark, or you can see more on The Alfie Lund Fund website”.
The website can be viewed by clicking here.
Alfie is pictured above at Brocstedes Park, with his Ashton Athletic and AFC Liverpool scarves. Photo courtesy of Pete Barton.
A Special Guest At Ashton Athletic
Thu 2nd April 2015 | Ashton Athletic
By Ian Templeman
Ashton Athletic welcomed a very special guest to their game against AFC Liverpool at Brocstedes Park last Saturday.
Attending the game was Alfie Lund, a 6 year old boy from Burscough, who suffers from MECP2 Duplication syndrome, a rare chromosone abnormality which occurs almost exclusively in boys. He cannot walk or talk and has profound and complex learning difficulties.
Children with MECP2 duplication are all affected slightly differently, but there are common features, such as lack of speech, learning difficulty and progressive neurological conditions such a seizures and increased muscle spasticity.
To raise awareness of Alfie and the condition, The Alfie Lund Fund has been set up to raise money for specialist equipment for Alfie, and help other families cope with the condition
As part of their efforts, supporters of the Fund have set themselves the challenge of creating the longest chain of football related items in the world during the 2014/15 football season, with the aim of submitting a claim to the Guinness World Records at the end of the season.
To date this season, they have visited Macclesfield Town, Southport, Burscough. Blackpool, Wigan Athletic, and Skelmersdale United among others, and added Ashton Athletic to the list of clubs last weekend.
The link up with Ashton Athletic came through club Secretary Alan Greenhalgh, who during the week drives a minibus that takes special needs children to their various schools. Alfie Lund is one of the children who travels with Alan each day, and through that Alan got to know his father Mark, and arranged the visit.
Alan said: “Alfie came down with his father Mark and older brother Cameron, and they really enjoyed their visit.
“They spread their chain of scarves around the ground, and then Alfie led the teams out and joined in some photographs. He certainly enjoyed the half time refreshments, especially the sausage rolls.
“I must give a special mention to AFC Liverpool who thoroughly supported the event, presented them with one of their scarves and even invited them to one of their home games which they respectfully accepted.
“A collection was arranged with a good gate present, and they collected well over £100 with both sets of supporters giving generously to the good cause.
“If any more NWCFL clubs would like to get involved with the chain challenge, they can contact me and I'll put them in touch with Mark, or you can see more on The Alfie Lund Fund website”.
The website can be viewed by clicking here.
Alfie is pictured above at Brocstedes Park, with his Ashton Athletic and AFC Liverpool scarves. Photo courtesy of Pete Barton.
