Rugby League Cares

Huge thanks to all the supporters of Catalans Dragons, Leeds Rhinos, St Helens and Warrington Wolves who came to see us on the ManVan at Bolton today.
It was great to welcome former players Des Drummond, Henderson Gill and Paul Highton on a glorious, sunny day, when hundreds of fans tackled the tough stuff.
Our trophy exhibition was particularly well received - lots of fans had their photo with the Lancashire League trophy, the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy and the Premiership Trophy....
Thanks to all the volunteers who helped staff the ManVan today, and to BarberB and his team who were again brilliant!
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A statement about player welfare: http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/rugby -league-cares-state…/

Rugby League Cares is assembling the greatest collection of RL trophies ever seen for a special event in Bradford next month.
The collection features all the current major trophies, including the RL World Cup, Super League trophy, Challenge Cup and Baskerville Shield, as well as some amazing 'retired' trophies such as the Championship trophy, the Yorkshire and Lancashire Cups, the Regal Trophy, BBC2 Floodlit Trophy and lots more.
The 'Sneaky Peeks' event takes place at Bradfo...rd City Hall on Saturday August 11 from 10 til 4, and admission is free.
http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/take- sneaky-peek-amazing…/
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Big shout out to Big Eorl Crabtree who is to lead a team of Rugby League legends in a track and field challenge against a team of boxing heroes at a major athletics event in Manchester in August.
Eorl and his team-mates will go head to head with a team led by Anthony Crolla over 100m, long jump, shot put and the 4x100m relay.
http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/big-e orl-lead-rugby-leag…/

Few players have played more Super League games than Andy Lynch and we're delighted to have the former Castleford Tigers, Hull FC and Bradford Bulls prop on board for the UK Red Ride to Wembley.
Andy will set out from Old Trafford with 26 other riders on Monday August 20 bound for the Challenge Cup final and will cycle 300 exhausting off-road miles over the next five days.
Taking in Peak District green lanes, forest trails, bridleways and canal towpaths, the route will test a...ll the riders, who are all going the extra mile to raise funds for RL Cares. Please show your support for Andy and a charity which touches on the lives of people at every level of the sport by sponsoring him - every little helps!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/an dy-lynch5
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We're delighted to announce that our men's mental fitness programme, Offload is in the running for a major award!
http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/offlo ad-shortlisted-pres…/

Chris and John met Thomas Fattorini today and had a tour of the workshops where the Challenge Cup medals and Super League grand final rings have been made for much of the game’s history.
The level of traditional British craftsmanship that goes into creating sporting treasures is incredible.
Huge thanks to Donna and Barry from Fattorini’s for making us feel so welcome.

We may already have mentioned this before - all right, we make no apologies for banging on about it! - but on Monday August 20 we depart for our biggest and most important fundraiser of the year, the 2018 UK Red Ride to Wembley.
Leaving Old Trafford at 8am that morning, 27 cyclist will head off bound for the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup final, avoiding roads whenever and wherever possible on a gruelling 300-mile journey.
They'll ride canal towpaths, bridleways, country lanes, fore...st trails and the occasional meadow and ploughed field as they plot their way south over five exhausting days.
The riders include seven former RL internationals - Mick Cassidy, Andy Lynch, Robbie Hunter-Paul, Gareth Ellis, Chev Walker, Paul Highton and Nathan McAvoy - who are giving put their time to help us by putting something back into the game they graced with such distinction. An eighth RL legend Keith Senior will be driving one of the support vehicles.
It's fantastic that the players recognise the importance of the work we do, and we'd love to have you supporting us too. Sadly, we can't accommodate any more riders on this marathon journey but you can get involved by sponsoring any of the riders by visiting their Just Giving pages.
Many of the riders already have their Just Giving pages set and the others are coming online over the next few days: please give what you can and help us smash our fundraising target.
If you're in London on the eve of the Cup final, please come and see us: we're scheduled to arrive at the Wembley Legends statue on the stadium concourse around 2pm on Friday. It would be great to see you!
WE'D ALSO LOVE IT IF YOU COULD SHARE THIS POST!
https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/r ide2wembley2018
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With the FIFA World Cup currently taking place it was good to catch up recently with Tim Hardcastle and look through his extensive collection of items relating to Rugby League in Russia.
Some of Tim's collection had been loaned to the heritage centre that used to be housed at the George Hotel and is now catalogued within our own collections at Heritage Quay within the University of Huddersfield.
The most fascinating aspect of Tim's memorabilia is not the items themselves (as... interesting as they are!) but the amazing stories behind them, including the role a small group of RL enthusiasts from West Yorkshire played promoting the sport shortly after the fall of the iron curtain.
It's stories like these that deserve sharing with a wider audience, which is one of our key ambitions for the National Rugby League Museum.
Our application for Heritage Lottery funding is currently being reviewed by the HLF and we hope to have positive news within the next few weeks that will enable to press on with plans to open the museum in 2021.
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We’re looking forward to this almost as much as the legends taking part are! Last year’s match was an absolute belter and with the calibre of the stars who have put their hands up to play, Saturday will be even better.

Big thanks to all the Hull FC and Wigan Warriors fans who paid us a visit at the KCOM Stadium today - great to see so many people having a good time and engaging with our amazing interactive vehicle which delivers important health advice in partnership with Movember UK.

Great to see so many people visiting us on the #ManVan at the Salford v Widnes State of Mind Round Offload fixture this evening - a fab time was had by all!
The #ManVan will be at Hull FC v Wigan on Saturday from 2.30, why not come along and see our fantastic interactive mobile exhibition - we'd be delighted to welcome you aboard!
There's lots to do and see, including free haircuts from BarberB and his team, the Buzzwire MoGame, classic RL video highlights and our mini Rugby League museum, which features three special trophies.

Dance artists from Rugby League club charitable foundations across the North West enjoyed an inspiring workshop of contemporary dance delivered by Manchester-based Company Chameleon.
A key focus of the session was how to engage young people – and particularly young men – in dance activity.
Full details here:
... http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/creat ive-dance-workshop-…/
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He has pedalled his way from London to Rio de Janeiro for us, braved the forest trails and ploughed fields between Leeds and Wembley, and now Paul Highton is up for his next major challenge for RL Cares by taking part in the 2018 UK Red Ride to Wembley.
And what's more, he gets to do it from Salford!
Please support Highto and the other legends on our fantastic fundraising adventure.
... http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/hight o-challenge-uk-red-…/
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It's hard to believe it's almost a week since the #ManVan rolled into Blackpool for Summer Bash!
We had a whale of a time and it was great to welcome so many fans of Championship clubs to our unique interactive roadshow in partnership with the Movember Foundation.
Lots of people had lots of fun on the ManVan, which was a huge success thanks to the support of our volunteers, who gave away lots of literature designed to empower men with the awareness, knowledge and resources t...o take positive action for their health.
Sadly, too many men in the UK die far too young and our aim is to help men achieve their fullest life potential. The ManVan addresses issues such as being aware of physical and mental risks they face, recognising any symptoms of being unwell, and encouraging men to take early action.
The ManVan will be at major Rugby League events and matches over the coming months and we'll be announcing details of where and when shortly.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!
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James Elston has signed up for the UK Red Ride to Wembley again - and this time he'll be joining two old team-mates!
James is the Managing Director of Wakefield-based Yorkshire Boilers, who were today confirmed as an associate partner of our epic fundraising challenge, a 300-mile off-road bike ride from Old Trafford to the Challenge Cup final at Wembley in August.
Also in our Wembley ride line up are Andy Lynch and Gareth Ellis, two players who went on to Super League stardo...m after playing alongside James early in their careers. Not that he's taking all the credit, of course! But coincidence? Surely not...
Read the full story here:
http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/yorks hire-boilers-back-s…/
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A huge thanks to the thousands of fans who purchased tickets in our fundraising prize draw held at Magic Weekend and Summer Bash - your support really is appreciated!
To find out whether you're one of our lucky winners, the winning tickets can be found here:
http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/…/magic -weekend-summer-bas…/
... Good luck everyone!
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Brilliant - well done everyone!

Fantastic images from Magic Weekend showing the power of sport and dance - big thanks to Steve Gaunt from Touchlinepics.com and a massive congratulations to the young people who took part. You're all amazing!

Thankyou for the experience so far only hours to go before Wembley enjoyed every minute, this project has give me the opportunity to do something that is once in a lifetime and make new friends that u would never have met!

Thankyou for giving my daughter great chances can.t wait to watch all the dancers again next week in Newcastle

Thankyou for giving me the opportunity to perform at St James 's park, it's made me a lot confident to perform in front of loads of people and it was a great experience, I'd definatley do it again!

It's a great charity for rugby league players and staff as well

Thankyou for the experience so far only hours to go before Wembley enjoyed every minute, this project has give me the opportunity to do something that is once in a lifetime and make new friends that u would never have met!

Thankyou for giving my daughter great chances can.t wait to watch all the dancers again next week in Newcastle

Thankyou for giving me the opportunity to perform at St James 's park, it's made me a lot confident to perform in front of loads of people and it was a great experience, I'd definatley do it again!

It's a great charity for rugby league players and staff as well

Thankyou for the experience so far only hours to go before Wembley enjoyed every minute, this project has give me the opportunity to do something that is once in a lifetime and make new friends that u would never have met!

Thankyou for giving my daughter great chances can.t wait to watch all the dancers again next week in Newcastle

Thankyou for giving me the opportunity to perform at St James 's park, it's made me a lot confident to perform in front of loads of people and it was a great experience, I'd definatley do it again!

It's a great charity for rugby league players and staff as well