Charity event for programme that makes a difference

Dan’s Trust staged the event following three years of its "Make a Difference" Award programme with around 100 people attending, including previous award winners, school teachers and charity fundraisers.

Award winners included local swimmer Ethan Naisbitt who has dreams of selection for the Paralympics, ballet dancer Hope Faraday, and gymnast Emily Rolfe who left early to head to a competition where she won a gold medal.

Shelagh and Peter Bagshaw, parents of Danny Bagshaw who passed away in 2012 and in whose name the charity was founded, along with brothers Ian and Gary enjoyed mingling with attendees who have benefited from the charity.

Pizzas and drinks were enjoyed and there was also the chance to have a go at the RollaPaluzza cycle challenge!

Daniel Bagshaw died from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, a sudden cardiac arrest. It was the same condition suffered by Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba whose heart stopped for over an hour while on the pitch.

A lawyer, who was also superfit, Dan collapsed and died on the final stretch of the International Triathlon Union Asian Cup in Lantau, Hong Kong, just five days after his 27th birthday. A former student at Clitheroe Grammar School he had lived in Hong Kong for 18 months. In a tragic twist of fate, Shelagh, was diagnosed with the genetic condition Long QT Syndrome which means you have an irregular heartbeat, just weeks before he died.

Dan had previously completed a number of triathlons, marathons, half marathons, an amateur section of the Tour de France and had climbed Mount Everest.

His parents set up the trust fund to help encourage other young people to follow their dreams and also support research into SAD which kills between 12 and 35 fit and healthy people every week in the UK.

Dan’s Trust, a registered charitable foundation established in 2012, not only promotes and funds research into the early diagnosis of cardiac arrest in the young, and invests in the treatment methods for sudden cardiac arrest, it also financially supports local youngsters in the Ribble Valley and Hyndburn areas to fulfil their ambitions and realise their potential.

Having raised more than £750,000 since 2012 (with the ambition to raise £1 million by 2022), the Trust has been able to offer support where it is really matters, to the local kids.

Some of those whom Dan’s Trust have had the privilege of helping include: Accrington-based swimmer, Ethan Naisbitt (14), who continues to break his personal bests and is training towards pursuing his dream of competing in the Paralympics Games. Ethan represents the Pioneer 79, a competitive swimming club based in Accrington and Blackburn and is on the second tier of the Para Programme. Ethan has progressed from club to county to regional competition and has participated in his first International event.

In the North West, Ethan is currently ranked number one and two in varying strokes in his age and classification and ranked between 11th and 17th in the country.

Ethan trains incredibly hard and Dan’s Trust are very proud of him and his unwavering dedication.

Meanwhile, Hope Faraday who attends Longridge School, has performed ballroom, classical and modern sequence dancing and competed at both a national and international level.

Hope came fourth in the 12-13 year age range in the World Sequence Dancing Championships in 2016. She achieved first place in ballroom in an under 16 national competition and represented the North West of England for the British Team at the last two World championships.

Hope is now hoping to pursue a career in ballet and will be attending Birmingham Royal Ballet for an intense programme during August. She will begin auditioning for residential ballet schools later this year for the September 2019 intake.

Dan’s Trust helped to launch a research project at Imperial College, London, which went on to win two prizes from the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society. The Trust also provides defibrillators for schools and local communities in Lancashire and supported UK charity Cardiac Risk in the Young to fund a cardiac screening day at the Manchester Velodrome for 100 elite cyclists on behalf of the Great Britain Olympic cycling team. Such was the success, that the Trust granted a further £50,000 to facilitate the Imperial College London continuing with their ground-breaking work.

Ian Bagshaw, co-founder of the trust, said: "Being able to actually do something to help kids from our region to achieve what they aspire to fills me and the other trustees with a huge sense of pride. This, along with being able to support the much needed research and treatment methods for sudden cardiac arrest in our youngsters, gives us a unique double aim as a charity and a lot of scope to make a real difference!"

Requests for funding from Dan’s Trust or donations to this worthy cause can be made by contacting Ian Bagshaw via the website - www.danstrust.org