Coach takes to the skies in memory of Adam

A soccer coach from Garstang currently working in Australia is planning a sponsored sky-dive down under to raise funds for a Lancashire-based charity set up following the death a friend.
Daniel Sutcliff from Garstang is currently working as a youth soccer coach in Australia with Magic United TFA.Daniel Sutcliff from Garstang is currently working as a youth soccer coach in Australia with Magic United TFA.
Daniel Sutcliff from Garstang is currently working as a youth soccer coach in Australia with Magic United TFA.

Daniel Sutcliff, 23, is raising cash for the ADAM appeal which provides defibrillators to schools, sports halls and community venues as well as promoting awareness of cardiac risk among young people.

The charity was founded in memory of Adam Swanwick who died in 2012 after a heart attack. Both Adam and Dan were active members of Garstang FC when Adam’s shock death at 28 stunned the Garstang community.

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During a new year break back home in Garstang Dan said he had been planning a fundraising effort for some time and had decided the parachute jump off Australia’s west coast was a great opportunity to raise funds for the charity set up by his pal’s family and friends.

The sky-dive will take place sometime next month at the prestigious beach resort of Byron Bay, New South Wales, an hour’s drive from Dan’s base in Carrara, Queensland, where 12 months ago he landed a dream job as a full-time youth soccer coach with the town’s football club, Magic United TFA.

He has no set target for how much he hopes to raise but already pledges from friends in both Britain and Australia have been made.

“I just want to raise as much as possible,” said Dan, a former pupil of Garstang Community Primary and Garstang High School.

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Dan, who is due to return to Australia next week, is the son of Booths store assistant Anita Sutcliff of Rowan Close, Bonds and former Garstang fishmonger and one-time town councillor Philip Sutcliff who now lives in Poulton-le-Fylde.

The keen sports enthusiast has been a keen footballer most of his life. After leaving school he studied football coaching at Myerscough College, sports coaching at Uclan in Preston and worked as a part-time community coach with Preston North End for two years before the move to Australia.

A spokesperson for the Adam Appeal said: “We are very grateful to Dan for choosing to support the Adam appeal with the sky dive. I’m sure Adam would be very proud too that you are doing this in his memory.”

* For more details about Dan’s sky-dive and how to donate, visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DanielSutcliff .

* For more information about the Adam appeal visit www.theadamappeal.co.uk