Rugby club goes the extra mile for Grace
A rugby club has helped convert miles on the exercise bikes into pounds for a children’s heart charity.
The Wild Boars, a mixture of players from Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club, have completed a 393-mile static cycling challenge to raise funds for Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF).
The challenge covered the distance from the club’s ground in Wall Heath to Brussels in Belgium.
Team manager Roland Green said: “One of our players Mike Collins came to me and said he couldn’t make a game as he had to go up to Northampton as his niece Grace was in hospital.
“He told us all that she was only two years old and had a heart problem, so we immediately started fundraising to help her go to the Freemans Hospital in Newcastle for more treatment.
“I started to think about other things we could with Mike and that’s when we came up with the idea of doing a bike ride.” Roland said the ride became a static challenge due to coronavirus restrictions and the destination of Belgium due to taking the under-16s team to a tournament there every year.
Generosity
About 30 members of the club, including members of the Jaguars under-14s side, took part in the ride, each doing an average of 10 miles in the saddle, with Roland taking his turn during the day.
The ride, which took just over four hours to complete, has raised more than £540 so far, with all funds going to help CHUF to deliver lifelong support to children with heart problems and their families.
Grace’s father Darren Westwood was present to see the riders going through their paces and said he was overcome by the support for his daughter.
He said: “It means everything to me to see the generosity from everyone and to think that people are willing to do this for charity to help my daughter.
“Grace is doing fine at the moment, having had a Berlin Heart fitted.”
To find out more about Grace and to donate, go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/roland-green
