A crack squad of Stormtroopers will descend on a shopping centre to raise cash for young stroke victims.<\/p>\n
Members of the 99th<\/sup> Garrison, who dress up as the imperial soldiers from the Star Wars franchise, for good causes, will invade Eagles Meadow on Saturday June 14, from 10.30am until 3pm.<\/p>\n All the money raised will go to Wrexham-based UK charity Hemichat who support young stroke victims, by enabling affected families to share support, information and life experiences.<\/p>\n The event is the brainchild of Phones 4U store manager at Eagles Meadow, Andy Robertson.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cPeople generally associate strokes with older people, but it happens to younger people as well. I was quite shocked about the age group it affects. The charity is there to help.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people affected by strokes can have problems with mobility and things like that. It can affect anybody. It can be from birth, or you could just wake up one morning, and something has happened and you\u2019d rely on this charity to help you out.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who are affected by things like this can lead happy fulfilling lives, but often they need support.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might need them one day, or someone you know. They\u2019re not a faraway charity on the other side of the world. It\u2019s something that\u2019s local, and it\u2019s nice to give something back.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy is a huge Star Wars fan.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cMy favourite Star Wars film is the Empire Strikes Back. When it was launched in 1980 I was nine years old.<\/p>\n \u201cI was too young to understand the first because that was a few years before. I went to the cinema with my friends, so there were no parents, and it was just brilliant. I think I went to see it three times in the end.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the first film I got on video when the home video market took off where you could buy a video as opposed to renting it.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember my mum being it for me from ASDA for about \u00a310. I got all the figures and I remember getting them on Christmas morning, but the Stormtroopers were always definitely the coolest ones.”<\/p>\n Andy paid tribute to the members of the 99th<\/sup> Garrison.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThis group of people dress up very authentically, and they come and raise money for charity. It\u2019s a fun day that makes a lot of people happy. These Stormtroopers are in demand. It\u2019s been hard to book them. It\u2019s taken pretty much four months.<\/p>\n \u201cThese guys from the 99th Garrison are very dedicated. They have got movie quality uniforms, and their kit even has to be checked out by a committee. It has to be that accurate, with the quality of the helmet, the armour, and the voice box all the right spec.\u201d<\/p>\n Stormtrooper Paul Truesdale, from Wrexham, is delighted to be part of an event on home turf.<\/p>\n The father of four who works in the Chester branch of Bank of America as a project manager in the fraud department, said: \u201cI\u2019m very excited to come down to Eagles Meadow to raise money for such a good cause – It\u2019s brilliant.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t often get a chance to do local events in Wrexham so it\u2019s nice. When we have done events here we\u2019ve had a fantastic reception from the public and raised quite a lot of money.”<\/p>\n Paul who travels all over the country with the 99th<\/sup> Garrison is trying to convince his fianc\u00e9 Mel to have a Star wars themed wedding.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe do a lot of weddings, we do christenings, and we\u2019ve done funerals before. We do birthday parties, baby showers, all sorts. Every weekend we\u2019ve got an event.<\/p>\n \u201cThe weddings can be pretty quirky, and it\u2019s usually it\u2019s the bride that organises it believe it or not. Brides have dressed up like Princess Leia in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first wedding I did Darth Vader walked the bride down the aisle. The Stormtroopers were the honour guard with their blasters up, and the bride and groom walked underneath the blasters with the Star Wars imperial march theme playing as they walked down the aisle.<\/p>\n \u201cThose events are really important because they\u2019re good fun for the bride and groom and also they make a donation for charity for our appearance.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul revealed that he found out about Hemichat when they came in to do a presentation at his Bank of America office.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThey came in and gave us a presentation on what they do and what they support, and the children involved and it tugged at the heart strings a bit. They rely on donations 100 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was nice to support a local charity and to do an event fort them, and support the kids who can be quite poorly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe money goes to the kids to enrich their lives, and give them experiences that they wouldn\u2019t normally have. It\u2019s one of those small charities that not many people know about, and doing this event is giving people a chance to learn about this charity and hopefully increase donations and support.”<\/p>\n Founder of Hemichat Gillian Hayes whose four-year-old son Luke had a stroke when he was 10 months old, is delighted that about the event at Eagles Meadow.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWhen we were approached about the event we were over the moon, because the money raised will help us to support families in need to help, and raise awareness of the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley: “I am delighted that Eagles Meadow is hosting a visit by the Star Wars Stormtroopers as it is in aid of such a worthy cause.”<\/p>\n For more information about Hemichat please visit <\/b>www.hemichat.org<\/b><\/a> or ring +44 (0) 844 802 3203.<\/b><\/p>\n