Police try-ing to score for Oldham charity challenge

For the third year in a row, officers from Greater Manchester Police held a 13-hour charity sports challenge to raise money for Mahdlo Youth Zone in Oldham.

So far in 2020, the GMP team have raised over £3,500, which brings the total raised by the team in the past three years to just over £13,500.

Mahdlo is a state-of-the-art Youth Zone in the heart of Oldham, which relies on donations, grants and community fundraising, to provide activities and support for young people.

Last Saturday (25 January), Inspector Danny Atheron, Constable Damieon Hartley-Pickles and a team of others took part in a gruelling 13-hour session of touch rugby and five-a-side football.

There were 13 different teams including local junior schools and sports clubs from across Oldham.

GMP’s Chief Constable Ian Hopkins also showed his support by participating in one of the rugby matches.

PC Damieon Hartley-Pickles, from GMP’s Oldham Division, said: “This was a true test of my stamina and as we got to the end of the 13-hours, I could hear my bones creaking.

“Our team consisted of players from GMP’s rugby league team as well as family, friends and associates linked to the Oldham Division. It was a hard slog but thinking about the charity and all they do to support our locations communities spurred the teams on.”

GMP’s Inspector Danny Atherton added: “I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved and who supported the event.

“I extend a special thanks to some fantastic GMP members of staff – Sophie Sowerby, Paula Isaacs and PCSO Suzanne Pealin who created the brochure for the challenge and also managed to persuade a number of local businesses to support the event.”

It's the third year running that the GMP team have held a fundraising event, having done a 24-hour five-a-side football marathon in 2018 raising a staggering £6,000 and a 13-hour touch rugby marathon in 2019, raising £4,000.

Alongside the matches, they also held a raffle with over 40 prizes, including first prize of a signed Manchester United football shirt, kindly donated by the Manchester United Foundation.