To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The UK Charity Allstars, a special launch event has been added to kick off the weekend’s proceedings in style.
On Friday 28th July, a UK Allstars ‘Legends’ game will take place at Cardiff’s Ice Arena Wales, with two teams of current and former professional players from UK ice hockey taking to the ice to raise money for two very special charities.
In keeping with Allstars tradition, the proceeds from the Friday night opener will be split between one National and one local charity.
The Ice Hockey Players Benevolent Fund (IHPBF) was formed in 1986 to give financial relief to any player, coach or official who has been registered to play in the UK during their career, and is unable to earn a living due to illness or injury. Recent beneficiaries of IHPBF support include former Cardiff Devil Scott Matzka and Adam Calder, an ex Coventry Blaze player.
Newly appointed IHPBF Trustee Neil Francis - who is working with the Organisers specifically on this game - said, ‘The ice hockey community within the UK does so many wonderful things to help charities and individuals in need that it is fitting we raise funds to support any players, coaches and officials in need, as these are the people that helped us fall in love with this great game in the first place or currently provide us with great entertainment today.’
The local charity will be the Special Care Infant Parent Support (SCIPS) which raises funds to help contribute to the care of very sick and premature babies at the neo-natal unit of the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) and also provides a support network for their parents. UHW staff members set up this charity in the 1980s along with grateful parents who wanted to give something back.
In August 2013, ‘Hockey SCIPS’ staged a Wales v Rest of the World ice hockey game where fans and families affected by premature births united to raise over £12,000 for the neo-natal unit. These funds directly purchased a much-needed ventilator/resuscitator for the UHW neo-natal unit, which has since been used to save the lives of many premature babies.
Allstars Chairman Paul Sullivan added,
‘We’ve had some fantastic launch evenings over the last decade, but for our tenth anniversary weekend we wanted to do something extra special. To help hockey folk through hockey itself, and to support the incredible work of SCIPS means the UK Charity Allstars 2017 weekend now sees 10 Charities supported, including two very close to our hearts, which is a testament to the dedication of everyone involved.
We’d like to thank Neil for his support of this launch. The Hockey SCIPS game was an inspirational event and hopefully in the great surroundings of Ice Arena Wales we can make an impact for both these worthwhile causes.
We’ll have some exciting news about Captains, jerseys and more in the coming weeks.’
You can find more info on SCIPS on facebook HERE
More information on the IHPBF is available HERE
Keep checking back here, following The UK Charity Allstars Facebook page and @UKfallstars on Twitter for game details including player announcements and ticket details.
If you are a former or current professional ice hockey player and would like to participate in the Legends game on 28th July, please email nf@cardiffdevils.com