Smiles all round for Wish Sport winners

The top ten winners of this year’s Wish Sport campaign have been presented with their prizes by Foundation patrons at a ceremony at Middlesbrough FC’s Riverside Stadium.
This year, the fourth in the history of Wish Sport, there was £30,000 on offer for Teesside’s not-for-profit sports clubs and associations.
The Gazette once again teamed up with Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation to offer sports groups across Teesside the opportunity to raise money for their clubs and associations, with the Foundation donating the £30,000 fund, courtesy of its generous patrons
Before revealing this year’s winners, Chris Styles, editor of The Gazette, said: “This year, 116 groups signed up for a share of £30,000 – we received 1.2 million tokens.
“It’s terrific for us to do a promotion that gets to the heart of the community we serve.
“Once again I want to thank the Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation for their support with this year’s Wish Sport. It is a fantastic charity.”
The club awarded the top share this year was Thornaby Bowls and Tennis Club which scooped £2,986.49 after collecting 124,312 tokens.
Bob Matthews, club captain and treasurer, said: “This event is fantastic. This is the fourth year it’s been running and each year the amount we get has grown because of the efforts of so many people.
“We’re trying to finance a changing facility for visiting away teams – so some of the money will go towards something concrete, as well as helping with the club’s funds.
“We want to thank everybody who collected for us, a lot of people in Ingleby Barwick and Thornaby as well as all the family, friends and neighbours who put so much effort in for us.
“We also want to thank the Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation who make this possible.”
Gary Dawson of AV Dawson, patrons of the Philanthropic Foundation, said: “It’s fantastic to support grassroots clubs and associations in Teesside.
“It’s four-and-a-half years since the foundation was started.
“The fact is, without the hard work from people in these clubs, parents and the local community, the opportunities wouldn’t exist for the kids and the people who use these clubs.
“These clubs are the life blood for some of these people – they bring the communities together.
“This is exactly what the Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation was set up to do.”

The top 10 were:

1. Thornaby Bowls club: 124,312 tokens; raising £2,986.49, presented by Robert Bennett of RMB Automotive.
2. Middlesbrough Powerchair FC: 42,172 tokens; raising £1,013.15, presented by Jamie Brown of Endeavour Partnership.
3. Stockton West End FC: 26,580 tokens; raising £638.56, presented by Elaine Bunn of Nortech.
4. Pallister Park Bowling Club: 25,380 tokens; raising £609.73, presented by Vicky Powell of The Keys Yarm.
5. Smiths Dock Bowling Club: 24,416 tokens; raising £586.57, presented by Mark Ellis of Middlesbrough Football Club.
6. Acklam Gym Club: 24,379 tokens; raising £585.68, presented by Jonathan Willett of Henderson Insurance Brokers.
7. SNAPS (Special Needs Activities with Parents Support): 22,264 tokens; raising £534.87, presented by Ken Devereux of Devereux Transport.
8. Tees Valley Roller Skating Club: 21,963 tokens; raising £527.64, presented by Sue Theobald of Barclays Middlesbrough.
9. Boro Rangers U6: 21,932 tokens; raising £526.90, presented by Harriet Spalding of the Mandale Group.
10. East Middlesbrough FC: 21,892 tokens; raising £525.94, presented by Gary Dawson of AV Dawson.