SPAR renews sponsorship of Lancashire School Games

SPAR has renewed its sponsorship of the Lancashire School Games, continuing a successful partnership with Active Lancashire over 18 consecutive years.

Schoolchildren with members of the Active Lancashire team and School Games Organiser Network, plus Bhavesh Parekh, owner of SPAR Alder Drive in Preston, and senior members of staff at James Hall & Co.

The 2023-24 Lancashire School Games are being reformatted this academic year, with an increased focus on running events and competitions in three distinct clusters in Lancashire – Coastal, Central, and Pennine – ensuring schoolchildren enjoy a programme of activity better aligned to local needs.

To celebrate the announcement, children from Brindle Gregson Lane Primary School acted as games ambassadors where they joined members of the Active Lancashire team and the School Games Organiser Network at SPAR Alder Drive in Gregson Lane near Preston.

Also attending the sponsorship renewal ceremony was owner of the store Bhavesh Parekh and senior members of staff at James Hall & Co, SPAR’s primary wholesaler and distributor for the North of England.

Over the course of 18 years, SPAR, through its association with James Hall & Co, has invested more than £250,000 in the Lancashire School Games.

Niels Dekkers, retail development director at James Hall & Co, said: “Over many years we have seen first-hand the value that SPAR’s sponsorship has brought to the Lancashire School Games, with hundreds of thousands of children enjoying the benefits of challenge, competition and physical activity in that time.

“With a an even greater localised agenda to programme delivery, we at James Hall & Co and SPAR look forward to seeing the positive impact of these changes on young people living in communities across Lancashire.”

The Lancashire School Games are run by Active Lancashire and the School Games Organiser Network and have been sponsored by SPAR since 2006.

In 2022-23, the Games engaged 24,000 children in sport and activities across Lancashire through 23 feature events and competitions.