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The rolling dead: Zombie Oldham roller disco plans thriller to put life back into venue

An all-girl roller derby group are offering Mancunians the chance to join the hordes of the living dead in a roller disco to raise funds to renovate their Oldham home on Friday.

The Rainy City Roller Girls will be hosting the post-apocalyptic event at their home venue on August 8, followed by a screening of the teen horror movie MurderDrome to generate cash for their team, which was formed in 2008. 

The side opened the doors to their very own venue for training and hosting bouts in Oldham in 2011 and have since reached ranked fifth in the UK. 

Team member Emma Lyskava, 24, from Manchester, told MM: “We’re the only team in the UK that have our own permanent venue and we’ve gone from strength to strength in the past three years.

“Having our own venue in Oldham is brilliant for our league and we’re very proud of it because we did everything ourselves and it has all been funded by our subs and takings from matches.

“It’s a pretty old building and we still have lots to do. We’re currently working on the toilets and changing rooms and then we hope to begin working on the roof.

“It’s really important for us to have events like this because we’re able to raise funds while socialising and having fun.”


THE ROLL Z: The girls from Rainy City Roller Derby will be getting a zombie-themed makeover (©Gianluca Ramalho Misiti with thanks)

Emma and the girls decided to throw a zombie-themed bash after the world’s first roller derby horror movie MurderDrome was given its final cut.

The film, which was released last year, sees the Roller Derby Dames go up against supernatural evil when a player called Jammer unwittingly releases a demon from hell.

Emma, whose team name is Harlett Johanson, said: “We thought it would be a fun idea to dress up for the movie and one of our skaters is a freelance make-up artist so we’ll have her on-hand to help zombify everybody. Her team name is Lipstick Massacre.

“We’ll also be giving away prizes to people in the best costumes so we want everybody to go all out.

“We have spare equipment including skates, shin pads and helmets, for people who haven’t skated before and want to come and have a go.” 

Food and refreshments will also be on offer as well as a range of themed cocktails, and Emma insisted that the event will be a success – for the living aswell as the walking dead.

Emma said: “It’s just going to be a really fun night. Tickets are £6 and I think that’s a good price as you get to skate, see the film and dress up as a zombie.”

Doors open 7pm. For ticket information visit the rcrg website.

Image courtesy of rainycityrollergirls with thanks

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