On 9th and 10th October, the Flight Club and Electric Shuffle team will cause a stir in Manchester as they rock up on King Street and Deansgate in an old fire engine with a very interesting backstory and prepare to spend the day dishing out treats to passers-by. This will mark the fifth and sixth stops on the Flight Club and Electric Shuffle Charity Tour – a huge tour of the UK, visiting every Flight Club and its sister brand, Electric Shuffle location, along the way. All of this is part of a year-long celebration dedicated to toasting a decade of unexpected, ridiculous joy, as the home of Social Darts turns ten. 

In addition to handing out goodies to Flight Club fans as a thank you for being there over the last decade, the crew is using the nationwide tour to raise money for the 18 local and national causes that Flight Club and Electric Shuffle support through its charity, The Yellow Ball Foundation.  Manchester charities benefiting are: Empower Youth Zones and Coffee4craig. Money will be raised through street fundraising and ticket sales for Social Darts and shuffleboard Tournaments, hosted at each venue through the month of October. 

The Flight Club and Electric Shuffle team is no stranger to mammoth fundraising projects. In fact, a 2010 fundraising expedition around the globe in the very same fire engine (hence the fire engine connection) is where it all began for Flight Club.  

Co-founders Steve and Paul, CFO Ross and a crew of friends circumnavigated the planet the fire engine in memory of Steve’s father, who spent 33 years serving as a firefighter. They raised £120,000 for three charities (Macmillan Cancer Support, The Fire Fighters Charity and The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation) and achieved a Guinness World Record. 

The expedition taught Steve and the crew the skills they needed to launch a business and, more importantly, underlined their passion for bringing groups of friends together for unforgettable moments of joy. Five years later, Flight Club was born, with the first venue opening in Shoreditch. Fast-forward ten years, and there are now 24 venues around the globe, with plenty more on the way.  

Fifteen years after Steve and the gang headed off on an incredible adventure around the world, “Martha,” the original fire engine, is coming out of retirement, especially for this special 10th anniversary tour.