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"The Rink Rush" comes to Manchester!

Thursday, 17th February 2005
“The Rink Rush”, a charity fundraising event undertaken by six ice hockey fans from Nottingham, passed through Manchester this Wednesday, and the guys found time to pop in and say hello at the Phoenix Office in Droylsden!
 
The six intrepid Nottingham fans - Paul Balm, Ian Braisby, Mark Balm, Jonathon Bullard, Adam Reddish and Mark Atkin - plan to visit every single rink in the UK where senior ice hockey is played in just seven days whilst raising money for Cancer Research.  They began their marathon journey last weekend, collecting donations of cash and auctionable items from every stop they make.  The group have already been to a variety of rink locations including Peterborough, Chelmsford, Basingstoke and Bracknell, and following their visit to Manchester they are heading north to make stops at the Scottish rinks before heading back down via Grimsby and Sheffield to Nottingham, hoping to arrive back at the NIC this Saturday.
 
Wednesday lunchtime saw a small group of Manchester Phoenix fans waiting patiently for the arrival of the Rink Rush team.  Due to delays on their flight from Belfast and some very questionable directions on the way, the guys arrived at their Mancunian stop about 45 minutes later than scheduled.
 
 
 
Once the Manchester photo call was done, the guys headed off to the Phoenix HQ in Droylsden, where Phoenix Fan Club Organiser Mag Pullen and Phoenix Admin Manager Mel Baker presented the guys with a shirt signed by last season's Phoenix squad. This will be auctioned off and the details will be available soon on both the official Phoenix and the Rink Rush websites.
 
The flying nature of their visit meant that the guys didn’t even have time to have a cup of tea at the office, and almost as soon as they had arrived they headed north towards Blackburn. 
 
The team are aiming to complete their epic task at 6.00pm on Saturday 19th February when they should be back home at the National Ice Centre, just in time for the Nottingham Panthers versus Belfast Giants game.  Fans who so far haven’t had chance to donate to this worthy cause can do so at the game on Saturday, or by visiting the Rink Rush website at http://www.therinkrush.org.uk
 
By Diane Daley and Richard Allan

 

 

Rink Rush guys and Phoenix fans

The Rink Rush guys are met by Diane Daley, Mag Pullen, Jim Piper and David Haggerty

Rink Rush at Phoenix HQ

Mel Baker and Mag Pullen present a signed shirt to the fundraisers


Manchester Phoenix Community Sports Foundation

Manchester Phoenix Supporters Club