{"id":1705,"date":"2026-04-09T08:41:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2026-04-09T08:41:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:41:01","slug":"northern-lights-shine-again-in-annual-walking-football-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/?p=1705","title":{"rendered":"Northern Lights shine again in annual walking football tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no\"><meta http-equiv=\"X-UA-Compatible\" content=\"IE=edge\"><meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no\"><meta charset=\"utf-8\"><title>Northern Lights shine again in annual walking football tournament<\/title><meta name=\"description\" content=\"\"><meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"\"><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index,follow\"><meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index,follow\"><meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\"><meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Northern Lights shine again in annual walking football tournament\"><meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"\"><meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"website\"><meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/press-releases\/northern-lights-shine-again-in-annual-walking-football-tournament\/\"><meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northern Lights shine again in annual walking football tournament\"><meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-case-study rte\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-case-study__wrap\">\n<p><span class=\"rich-text-pumps__text rte__text\">Teams from Vital Energi and Parkinsons support community, Northern Lights, returned to the pitch last week to take part in our annual walking football tournament at Witton Park, Blackburn.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The tournament is in its third consecutive year, and once again, Northern Lights (NLPD) took home the trophy. NLPD A team took the top spot and Vital Energi Team C finished as runners-up.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part, whether you played in the tournament, cheered from the sidelines, or took part in the raffle, which raised an amazing \u00a3426 for the charity.<\/p>\n<p>Vital Energi\u2019s Chairman, Gary Fielding, was at the tournament cheering from the sidelines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was fantastic to see teams from Vital and Northern Lights take to the pitch for our third annual walking football tournament,\u201d said Gary. \u201cIt was great to see the energy, camaraderie, and team spirit from both sides from start to finish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs part of our five-year sponsorship commitment, it\u2019s fantastic to be able to support events like this, not just for the fun, but for the incredible charity behind it and raising awareness of Parkinson\u2019s. Maybe next year, we\u2019ll be celebrating with the trophy too!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve received lots of lovely messages from Northern Lights members which shows that this tournament is definitely a highlight of their year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorman and I would like to thank Vital Energi for their hospitality as always, your support for our group is truly outstanding and is very much appreciated. Our lads love taking part in this tournament and look forward to it each year, the camaraderie that takes place within all teams is amazing they are made to feel so welcome,\u201d said Mary Stead, Trustee of the charity whose husband Norman was diagnosed with Parkinsons 14 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Ashworth, member of NLPD\u00a0who helped establish the relationship with Vital Energi, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have to say it is an absolute pleasure to be involved with, and great to see all the guys catching up on the business and personal exploits from the previous 12 months. The respect shown by all, really is second to none\u2026..long may that continue. In that regard, we are all thankful to Gary for allowing the game to take place. And so, another successful tournament has been celebrated, and we now look forward to the 2026 event.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A special thank you to Asif Asvat who organised the teams and delivered a great speech at the beginning of the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy highlight was definitely giving the opening speech to everyone at the start of the tournament and just seeing another successful, friendly tournament come together,\u201d said Asif. \u201cIt was a great atmosphere all round!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Based in the North West, NLPD is a self-funded, voluntary organisation which offers support and help to people with Parkinson\u2019s disease &#8211; a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination \u2013 and brings people together by introducing them to the joys of walking football.<\/p>\n<p>A great way to stay fit and potentially relieve some of the symptoms of Parkinson&#8217;s, walking football also allows participants to learn new skills and make friends with those in a similar situation.<\/p>\n<p>Find out more about NLPD by clicking\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlpd2019.com\/\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-image rte\" data-anchor=\"\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-image__wrap\">\n<div class=\"rich-text-image__img-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rich-text-image__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/aofkhaqv\/image-2025-07-28t085941-134.jpg?center=0.5126624559267976,0.40467267127136591&amp;mode=crop&amp;width=835&amp;height=474&amp;rnd=133985266744230000\" alt=\"Image 2025 07 28T085941.134\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/javascript:\" class=\"js-read-more-rte read-more-btn\">Solution detail<span class=\"btn__link font-ico-plus\"><\/span><span class=\"btn__link font-ico-minus\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-image rte\" data-anchor=\"\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-image__wrap\">\n<div class=\"rich-text-image__img-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rich-text-image__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/xgafmmek\/image-2025-07-30t090125-545.jpg?anchor=center&amp;mode=crop&amp;width=835&amp;height=474&amp;rnd=133985261448800000\" alt=\"Image 2025 07 30T090125.545\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/javascript:\" class=\"js-read-more-rte read-more-btn\">Solution detail<span class=\"btn__link font-ico-plus\"><\/span><span class=\"btn__link font-ico-minus\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-image rte\" data-anchor=\"\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-image__wrap\">\n<div class=\"rich-text-image__img-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rich-text-image__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/0qublvky\/image-2025-08-01t090436-785.jpg?anchor=center&amp;mode=crop&amp;width=835&amp;height=474&amp;rnd=133985262201570000\" alt=\"Image 2025 08 01T090436.785\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/javascript:\" class=\"js-read-more-rte read-more-btn\">Solution detail<span class=\"btn__link font-ico-plus\"><\/span><span class=\"btn__link font-ico-minus\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-image rte\" data-anchor=\"\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-image__wrap\">\n<div class=\"rich-text-image__img-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rich-text-image__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/fx4fbrot\/image-2025-07-30t090152-387.jpg?anchor=center&amp;mode=crop&amp;width=835&amp;height=474&amp;rnd=133985262565700000\" alt=\"Image 2025 07 30T090152.387\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/javascript:\" class=\"js-read-more-rte read-more-btn\">Solution detail<span class=\"btn__link font-ico-plus\"><\/span><span class=\"btn__link font-ico-minus\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff Northern Lights shine again in annual walking football tournament Teams from Vital Energi and Parkinsons support community, Northern Lights, returned to the pitch last week to take part in our annual walking football tournament at Witton Park, Blackburn. The tournament is in its third consecutive year, and once again, Northern Lights (NLPD) took home [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ve_media_section":[3],"ve_media_year":[],"ve_sector":[],"class_list":["post-1705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","ve_media_section-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"ve_media_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_media_section&post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"ve_media_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_media_year&post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"ve_sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_sector&post=1705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}