GCU Cheerleading walk the equivalent of GCU to Manchester and back – twice!
GCU’s cheerleading team are collectively walking 860 miles to raise money for the running of their team and upcoming competitions this year.
The distance of 860 miles is equivalent to the distance from GCU to Manchester and back (where their upcoming competition is) twice!
Team President Helen Griffiths explained how the money raised will help the team get to competitions and upcoming events throughout the year.
She said; “This is double the distance of what we aimed for last year. We’re raising money by asking for donations to sponsor our walk, which is through our JustGiving page.
The money is going towards basically running our team! Without fundraising we wouldn’t be able to pay for some aspects of our Manchester competition, so overall the money will go towards anything in the team!”.
After what seems like a lifetime of cancelled tournaments, competitions and training sessions for all clubs and societies at The University, Helen explained how it feels to be getting back to some sort of normality with her fellow cheer squad this year.
Helen said; “It feels exciting to be (basically) back, we knew this was a covid friendly fundraiser so that’s the main reason why we picked it.
It’s a great fundraiser to do to still remain a team but have assurance it won’t get cancelled!”.
She added; “Our year ahead for cheerleading is looking very exciting, as soon as we can start training in February we will be working so hard for our competitions where we have 3 between the months of February and March.
Then even after these we will be holding a showcase of all our teams in April!”.
At university, it is up to sports teams to work out how they can raise funding that they need for many things like kit, travel expenses and hall hire – Helen explained how grateful herself and the team are to those who have contributed towards the team’s fundraising goals.
She said; “I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s already donated, it means so much as fundraising is so crucial to us!
If you can please share our JustGiving link so we can spread the word of our fundraiser, we’re so excited for our first competition of the year!”
Keep up to date with the GCU Cheerleading Team on Facebook or find out how to get involved on the Students’ Association website.
By Rebecca Meechan
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