PNC Raises £2702 for Beep Doctors
On 26 September, Penrith Netball Club gathered members of its senior section to present a cheque for £2,702 to Dr Theo Weston of Beep Doctors Cumbria. Their fundraising efforts, undertaken throughout August and September involved the organisation of a charity netball tournament and raffle in memory of the late Nichola Jackson, of Penrith, who passed away suddenly in March 2024 along with Rosie Jackson. Nichola was a friend to many, a much-loved member of Penrith Netball Club, captaining the club’s development squad, Penrith Lakers, for several seasons. The charity tournament, held on 07 September at Ullswater Community College in Penrith, welcomed teams from Carlisle as well as Penrith Netball’s own squads to compete at the inaugural event. Competitors and spectators enjoyed a day of glorious sunshine for the tournament, alongside a netball shooting challenge and chuck-a-duck competition. The winners on the day were Penrith Swifts, closely followed by Mavericks Netball from Carlisle who came in second place with the final match of the day being the decider. Penrith Swifts took the game with a score of 14-5. Alongside the charity tournament, Penrith Netball Club organised a fundraising raffle which attracted a huge amount of donations from many local businesses. The club would like to take this opportunity to thank all the raffle donors once more for their generosity, and extend this to everyone who bought tickets as well. Club chair, Caroline Tyson, says “We have been blown away by the support offered to the club over the last few months, and we are beyond proud to have raised such a significant amount of money for the Beep Doctors. The work that the doctors do is invaluable and I’m so glad we can help in this way, especially in memory of our friend Nic Jackson who was such a key member of our netball family.” Moving forward, the club aims to host another memorial tournament in September 2025, and annually thereafter.
Charity Tournament Success for PNC
On Saturday 07 September, we held our inaugural tournament in memory of Nichola Jackson under the blazing sunshine at Ullswater Community College. We welcomed teams from Harraby and Mavericks in Carlisle alongside three Penrith teams who battled it out in short-form round-robin matches. Our thanks go to the players who travelled down to take part, as well as our many event volunteers, including Jane Holme for organising the raffle and refreshments (with the help of Janet Addison), Harriet Holme for managing the competitive elements, Isobel S. for manning our netball shooting challenge, and Jessica & Ellie T. for managing the chuck-a-duck competition. The day started well, albeit very toasty, meaning a change of schedule was required to manage the heat. All teams and players persevered, though, and played some fabulous netball on UCC’s outdoor courts. Penrith 2 and Mavericks took the wins in the first two games, the latter repeating the feat in the next set of matches. In Round 3, Harraby took a convincing 24-13 win over Penrith 3 before falling to Mavericks in Round 4 by a single goal. The top two podium places were decided during the final match of the day between Penrith Swifts and Mavericks. Eventually, it was the Swifts that came away with the win, scoring 14 goals to Mavericks’ 5. The final standings on the day were: Penrith Swifts (20 pts) Mavericks (15 pts) Penrith 2 (12 pts) Harraby (8 pts) Penrith 3 (4 pts) Presentations of prizes for the winning teams were made by William and Harriet Jackson, husband and daughter of Nichola, who also presented the first Nichola Jackson Commitment Award to its first recipient, Katie Blackburn. This award is named in honour of our late teammate and dear friend, and will be awarded annually to the person who has shown unwavering dedication to Penrith Netball Club, as Nic did week after week, coming down to see us even when she was unable to play whilst carrying baby Rosie. Katie Blackburn, is the very embodiment of commitment. She contributes vast amounts of positivity and effort to everything she does on-court and off, and is a crucial member of the PNC family. Moving forward, we aim to build upon this success and organise an annual memorial tournament in September each year. So, watch this space for future updates!
Penrith Netball take Skelton Show
We took Penrith Netball on tour this Saturday 01 July when we attended our first local event, Skelton Show. The event was a great success, having bounced back to full force after being cancelled due to poor weather in 2022. As part of our event set-up, we ran a shooting competition, asking visitors of all ages to shoot as many goals as possible in one minute. We loved seeing so many of you put in incredible efforts trying to reach the top of the leaderboard. Top scores on the day were achieved in the adult and junior competitions by Eleanor Holme (20 goals) and Ava Massey (27 goals) respectively. We loved our first event outing, and it definitely won’t be the last. Keep an eye out for us at more local events in the future!
Launching the Penrith Netball 100 Club
Today marks the launch of the Penrith Netball 100 Club. As one of our new fundraising initiatives, it provides a quick and easy way to get involved in supporting our netballers present and future from wherever you are in the country. Numbers are £5.00 each per month, with guaranteed monthly prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd. The more numbers bought, the bigger the prizes! The full information sheet can be found on our 100 Club page but please get in touch if you have any questions.
