Bredbury-based Speedworks Motorsport has teamed up with The Kirsty Club to help raise vital funds for Francis House Children’s Hospice.
The Kirsty Club was inspired by Kirsty Howard, who was born with a rare back-to-front heart condition.
With other organs also affected, in February 1999, she was given just six weeks to live but defied all doctors’ predictions, enduring many operations and receiving respite from the age of three at Francis House.
Refusing to let her illness stand in her way, Kirsty made a huge impact as a fundraiser for Francis House and ‘Kirsty’s Appeal’ generated a staggering £5m for Francis House in Didsbury.
A further £3.5m subsequently allowed for the construction of a new teenage and young adult wing, Francis Lodge
Although Kirsty sadly lost her brave battle in October 2015 at the age of 20, her legacy lives on and is reflected in the care provided to the hundreds of children, teenagers, young adults and their families that rely on the hospice in their times of greatest need.
On May 22, Speedworks Motorsport Team Principal Christian Dick and driver Tom Ingram will enter the Great Manchester 10km for The Kirsty Club.
Around 50 runners are expected to represent The Kirsty Club this year, all bearing the Speedworks logo on their shirts and a Just Giving page for Christian and Tom will be launched soon.
“We’re delighted to have made The Kirsty Club our nominated charity for 2016,” said Amy Dick, Team Manager of the Cheshire-based squad, which will this season field a Toyota Aventis for Ingram and a Honda Civic Type R for newcomer Matt Simpson in the ITV4 live-televised, all-action BTCC.
‘As a local organisation that provides such crucial care to children with short life expectancy, I think it’s fair to say that The Kirsty Club is a fitting tribute to a truly incredible young woman.
“We are keen to do as much as we can to help Francis House to continue with its wonderful work, and we will be launching a series of fundraising activities over the course of the campaign, with a particular focus on the Great Manchester Run and our home race meeting at Oulton Park in June.”
The Kirsty Club director Phil Taylor added: “We’re thrilled that one of Britain’s leading motorsport teams has pledged its allegiance to The Kirsty Club.
“It’s an absolute honour for our charity to have Speedworks involved, and for us to be associated with such a prestigious and popular championship as the BTCC is phenomenal.
“Francis House is a loving home where the corridors are filled with laughter and the rooms flooded with light, but the inescapable fact is that between them, the House and Lodge cost more than £4 million per year to run, which is both an enormous task and a significant financial burden.
“Children’s hospices don’t tend to receive as much help from central or local government as adult hospices – it’s mostly down to public donations.
“But through its various initiatives and a tremendous ongoing investment of time, effort and resources, The Kirsty Club raises essential funds towards those day-to-day costs.”
“Now, with Speedworks’ assistance and through BTCC and its vast fan base, hopefully we can spread our message far and wide and build an even brighter future for the residents of Francis House and Lodge.”