Apollo Rockets enjoy a Lidl limelight

Gavin Hanna, Caitlin Hanna, Debbie Boyd, Robbie Smyth, Joel Bingham and Dylan Lyness from the Apollo Rockets Youth Cycling group are pictured with Natasha McCartan and Aisling Fitzpatrick from the Lidl Community Crew.

It marked the Lidl crew’s grand return to Lurgan, after they visited the Apollo Rockets last month with the exciting news that they would benefit from Lidl’s ‘Community Works’ campaign.

Lidl launched the campaign back in June, receiving over 2,000 nominations for community groups and projects throughout Northern Ireland, and narrowed down the nominees to just 32 - choosing the Apollo Rockets to receive an award of £2,000. When the team came to Lurgan to see the Apollo Rockets in action, they loved the Club so much that they decided to film Lidl’s new television advert with the cyclists in their Lurgan Park base.

“Saturday was an amazing day for the Apollo Rockets!” exclaimed Dylan Lyness, vice-chairman of the Apollo Cycling Team.

“We had the Lidl ‘Community Works’ team arrive and present us with our gifts - a total of £2,000 was awarded to Apollo Rockets.”

The Club are already putting the money to good use, and it’s clear that the kids are top priority for the team, who volunteer each week to develop the skills and confidence of the cyclists in attendance.

“A total of £1,000 was spent on new equipment to help develop the skills of the children - this ranged from jumps to slalom poles and some new cones,” said Dylan. “The other half was spent on fifty winter jackets for the kids - a great idea by the Rockets committee - which were embroidered and make the kids feel part of a team.”

The cyclists spent nearly five hours filming for the TV advert, which will hit our screens in the near future.

“It was a great experience and the kids had a great time,” shared Dylan.

“Lidl also supplied the kids with some drinks and snacks throughout the day to keep them happy. Overall, this gives the Apollo Rockets the foundations to go on to great things in the future. The Apollo Rockets have been dedicated to teaching the children of our local community cycling skills for just over a year now and it feels great to be recognised for our efforts.”

Lidl Community Crew member, Aisling Fitzpatrick, commented,

“We’re delighted to be able to give something back - hopefully this support will help them out on their journey.”