Nottingham developer digs deep to help ice skating team’s world championship bid
ALB Group has donated £5,000 to the Nottingham-based British Synchronized Ice Skating team after it appealed for funds to attend the World Championships in the US later this month.
Arran Bailey, managing director of the Nottingham property firm, leapt to the team’s aid after learning it would receive no external funding to represent Great Britain at the World Synchronized Skating Championships in Lake Placid between 31 March 31 and 1 April.
The trip will cost an estimated £38,000, with members of the squad, which is known as Team Icicles, being required to pay for their own coaching, travel, accommodation and equipment on a daily basis.
This is the fourth year in a row that the Nottingham squad has been selected to represent Team GB in the World Championships.
Emily Potter, vice-captain of Team Icicles, set up a gofundme appeal to help her teammates, but prior to ALB’s donation it had only achieved £1,000 of the £30,000 target.
ALB Group is now calling on other Nottingham businesses to follow its lead.
Bailey said: “This group of women is truly amazing – and their achievements for Great Britain and Nottingham in the face of a complete lack of regular funding support is nothing less than remarkable.
“Nottingham is a great city, so I’d love to see other local business owners like myself lend a hand and help celebrate some of our home-made talent.
“Team Icicles is working wonders in putting Nottingham on the world sporting map, so let’s all get together and reward their efforts with some effort of our own!”
The team’s off-ice dance coach Amy Daniels said: “The girls are so grateful for Arran’s generous donation and his appeal to other businesses to help out too.
“To have this kind of support really helps relieve some of the financial burden, as well as providing some well-deserved recognition for all their hard work.
“You don’t see the top footballers having to fund their own training, let alone paying their own fare to the World Cup, so it’s unfortunate that our girls need to go cap in hand, despite all their success.”
“They are literally among the best in the world at what they do, so I’d urge as many people as possible to help out if they can”, added Daniels.
Emily Potter, who set up the gofundme appeal, said: “ALB’s £5,000 donation is an amazing amount. The World Championships is the pinnacle of our season, where all the world’s best teams come together to compete so me and the team are truly grateful for this generous donation.
“We can’t thank Arran enough, and words can’t begin to describe how much this means to each and every one of us. If there are any other businesses who would be interested in helping us achieve our goal, please reach out to us.”
