Members of the PNE-Online forum have raised £650 for Preston North End Community and Education Trust [PNECET] to purchase tickets for the West Lancashire derby clash against Blackpool, which will be distributed to fans who may otherwise have been unable to attend.
PNECET is the official charity (Registered Charity No.1130773) of Preston North End Football Club, utilising the power and appeal of the club to connect people, inspire generations and help people to achieve their goals, through provision centred around Community Engagement, Education, and Health and Wellbeing.
The Trust utilises its affiliation with Preston North End to invite participants from across its programmes and deserving members of the community to matches wherever possible, with initiatives including a link with PNE Police Officer PC Paul Elliott and Lancashire Police, funded by the Proceeds of Crime Act, to recognise community heroes with match tickets.
Moreover, a Class of the Week initiative has been inviting classes of deserving school children to every home fixture at Deepdale since the end of January.
Ahead of the Blackpool fixture on Tuesday night – the first meeting with the Tangerines at Deepdale since August 2013 – members of the PNE-Online forum launched an appeal designed to help fans unable to purchase a ticket of their own by donating funds to PNECET.
With the appeal now complete, and £650 later, PNECET is utilising those funds to invite less fortunate fans to the Blackpool fixture and allow them to continue to show their support for the Lilywhites in the derby clash.
A spokesperson for PNE-Online said: “With one of our forum patrons being unable to attend the Blackpool fixture on the rearranged date, the idea was suggested that money could be donated instead for fans, to effectively offer their place at the game to someone who otherwise couldn’t attend.
“We started the campaign and promoted the collection. Other supporters who are still attending the game have donated just to support the great work of PNECET. We hope that it has also helped to raise awareness of PNECET among some fans who were previously unaware of all of its great work.
“In the space of a few weeks, we’ve managed to organise two collections that have raised in excess of £6,000 for fan initiatives. We’re just absolutely amazed at the generosity of our fans and we are really pleased by how much people have got behind this initiative to show a united support.”