We're gearing app for charity

That’s the invitation from Lytham St Annes Lions, who are making the most of new technology to help provide a cash boost for good causes - beginning with Brian House children’s hospice.

The Lions hope their treasure hunt app will appeal to visitors as well as local residents and are confident it can generate much-needed funds galore.

The treasure hunt is currently available to play for £3 and has started with a Lytham version, with other parts of Fylde to follow.

For a limited time, prizes are on offer to players - and the choice of Brian House as the initial recipient follows hot on the heels of the Lions raising £13,500 for the Bispham-based children’s hospice at its annual swimarathon.

That cash is specifically being used to upgrade Brian House’s family accommodation facilities.

Lions member Drew Thompson, who devised the treasure hunt idea, said: “The basic premise is a fun walk around the local sites of interest looking for hidden clues and answering trivia questions along the way.

“A digital device is required to do the hunt such as an android or a iPhone, all for a small donation and it is already proving popular with families.

“The hunts will be updated at regular intervals throughout the year so people can register for updates.

“We plan on running monetary prizes for all the hunts which will have a deadline – the current one being April 30 – but the hunts will not be closed.

“Once the hunt prizes have been drawn, people will still be able to do the hunt, just not for prizes.

“We have one current hunt available for Lytham that will take between one to one and a half hours to complete and there is a hunt in production for Fairhaven Lake and another planned for St Annes.”

The Lions have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to a variety of causes over more than 30 years of the swimarathon and the choice of Brian House as current beneficiary comes as the Bispham-based Hospice, is facing a major funding challenges.

Officials at the hospice, which provides vital support for youngsters with serious, life-limiting illnesses and their families across the whole of the Fylde coast, recently heard that the money Brian House receives from the NHS will remain at £195,254 - leaving a seven-figure shortfall.

Brian House community fund-raiser Michelle Lonican said: “We think the Lytham St Annes Lions are fabulous!

“The aim is for the additional funds generated to support the family bedroom renovation upstairs in Brian House which is planned as part of our 21st birthday.

“With children’s hospices being underfunded, it is especially difficult to find additional funds for such renovation work with the majority of money raised having to be used for other running costs.”

Details of the app can be viewed online at www.coastaltreasurehunts.org and anyone wishing to do the hunt can either pay online and they will automatically be delivered the password to start it or they can purchase a physical ticket from any one of a number of local outlets.

They include Trinity Hospice shops in Lytham and St Annes, The Dalmeny Hotel in St Annes, The Pavilion cafe in St Annes’ Ashton Gardens, Lowther Pavilion cafe, GR Hardwick Optometrists in Park Street and Crofts newsagents in Warton Street, Lytham.