The Belgian project has been fundraising and making awareness over the last decade for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust in different ways, we even had an intercommunity concert once with a Belgian Band (Blunt Folk-Rock) an award-winning marching flute band (Melody Newtownards) and an Irish Dancing group (Rialta Dancing School) on 1 podium (a first-ever in the region) and collections at events. We wanted to do something different this time and decided to organise a jersey auction with a pub quiz attached. The venue will be the Ards Bowling Club function room, situated at the Comber Road near the centre of Newtownards.

The doors will be open at 6.30 pm ( £5 entry) and the bar at 7 pm, the auction will start at 7.30 pm followed by the pub quiz around 8.15 pm. During breaks raffle tickets will be sold at £1 with valuable prizes (if you have a prize to donate lets us know) If you have a business you can have your roll-up photo on the podium for £50 donation, and photos will be taken (info can be obtained with danyblondeel@yahoo.co.uk) Tickets will be sold beforehand, at prior to the evening CX events, in the Bike House cycle-coffee shop in Bangor and at the door. A maximum of 6 for teams is in place, and we ask to be fair and no googling during the quiz…The winning team will receive each an appreciation medal from the Belgian Project as a thank you. The Belgian Project will also be the MC for the evening. Everyone is welcome but an 18+ is in place after 9 pm due to licence rules.

Dave Watson’s (Top amateur cyclist from the Bike House Stable) son Thomas was one of the children who has received the help and care of the charity, his team Bike House Bangor have done already lots of fundraising in the past for Children’s Heartbeat and thousands of pounds raised towards the cause to express the gratitude of their support. We are so proud to arrange such evening as it will help other families in need!
Another well-known name in Irish cycling had the support of the Charity 10 years ago now. Stephen Gallagher (Ex-Pro and Ras Winner) son Cody past away with heart disease in December 2009. The care and support Stephen and Judith received was tremendous from the charity and helped them to cope with such tragedy of losing a child, Stephen organised for many years a sportive in Armagh to raise funds, Cody Challenge was one of the biggest sportives in N-Ireland with never seen amount of entries in the first year in 2010. I was there at the time, it impressed me big time, and since then my project has been supporting the cause.

Children’s Heartbeat Trust is a charity in Northern Ireland that provides practical & emotional support to families of children & young people born with heart disease.
We work very closely with Clark Clinic which is the children’s cardiac ward at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. As well as making regular visits to Clark Clinic, we help to fund top quality medical equipment to help ensure children receive the best treatment and care possible.
Some other ways we provide support to families include;
– Financial support for Clark Clinic
– Local family support groups and fun days
– Provision of parent accommodation
– Research fellowships
– Campaigning
– Independent counselling service
If you are considering taking on a fundraising challenge in aid of Children’s Heartbeat Trust contact us for a fundraising pack!
Receiving a heart disease diagnosis for a child or young person within your family can be very daunting. It is common to feel isolated and scared but it helps to know that you are not alone. If you would like more details on joining our huge heart family or receive regular updates please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
All info https://www.childrensheartbeattrust.org

This jersey of Marianne Vos (Ex multiple World Champ from the Netherlands) is one of the jersey’s to be auctioned, won this cracking jersey at a fundraiser of VC Glendale earlier this year and now pass it on to our auction in November. The photo here with Toby Watson a great supporter of the project