By George, It's A Huge Effort!

Fundraising effort to honour a hero

- Phil Brennan

A CHARITY bike ride for one of Non-League’s most treasured characters George Melling has raised more than £12,000.

Earlier this year, ‘Big G’, as he is affectionately known, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) at the age of 36, prompting the NonLeague family to rally around in support of fundraising efforts.

A tough-tackling central defender, Melling came through the youth systems at Blackpool and Morecambe before making his first-team debut aged 20 for Altrincham.

He then went on to play for a host of football clubs across the northwest including Lancaster City and Northwich Victoria over the next 15 years, becoming a fans’ favorite wherever he went. Indeed, many of those former clubs have shown their support by raising funds.

In April, over 30 people made up of George’s fiancée Nicci and a number of former teammates and friends, completed a special Three Peaks Challenge where they carried George’s body weight (101kg) on two stretchers across Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside, and Ingleborough.

Recently, two of his former managers, Lancaster City’s Mark Fell and Lee Ashcroft, at Longridge Town, carried out their own fundraising event Ride4George which saw their team – plus Non-League stalwarts Farrell Kilbane, Andy Teague and Danny Mahoney – venture out on a three-day bike ride, taking in several of Melling’s former clubs.

The group rode 240 miles over three days visiting nine football clubs. Ashcroft drove the main support vehicle whilst Fell completed all three days in the saddle, and he was quick to praise the fellow cyclists that helped pull him through.