ROCK star Liam Gallagher is donating a signed pair of his own specially-designed adidas trainers to help raise money for Blackburn-based charity Nightsafe.

Next month a major exhibition opens at Blackburn’s historic Cotton Exchange showcasing around 1,200 pairs of vintage adidas trainers dating back to the 1950s which is expected to attract collectors from all over the world.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to buy a limited edition, numbered event poster. An email address will be required when buying the poster and on the last day of the exhibition, the winner of the LG SPZL trainers signed by the Oasis frontman will be chosen at random.

All proceeds from the sale of the poster will go to Nightsafe which helps homeless young people in Blackburn and Darwen.

Organisers are expecting a major demand for the poster. Ones which have been put up around the town promoting the exhibition have been taken down by collectors eager to get their hands on them.

The exhibition is the brainchild of Darwen-born Gary Aspden who has worked with adidas for more than 20 years and is the designer of the iconic Spezial trainer brand.

At the event, which opens on Friday, October 4, Gary will be unveiling his new Spezial trainer named the Blackburn with a colour scheme inspired by the green and red of the Lancashire rose. A limited edition run of 200 pairs will be available during the exhibition specially branded with the Nightsafe logo which will raise £20,000 for charity.

The exhibition is part of the British Textile Biennial which will see events being held across East Lancashire throughout October celebrating the area’s textile heritage. More than 80 different exhibitions, workshops and displays will be held utilising historic buildings associated with the cotton industry.

This week contractors moved into the Cotton Exchange to start setting up the adidas exhibition.