Members of Dalziel Rugby Club are preparing to embark on a fundraising scheme to help one charity at home and one abroad.
The club are asking their players, coaches and members to walk, run and cycle to contribute to a combined team target of 2253 kilometres – the distance from their home ground at Dalziel Park in Motherwell to Warsaw, the home of the Warsaw Rugby Tournament.
Since 2004 a team from Dalziel has travelled to Warsaw to take part in the annual Warsaw Rugby Festival. This year, the event was due to take place from Friday, May 22, to Sunday, May 24.
Understandably, due to the on-going COVID-19 situation the event has been cancelled.
Elaine Neilson, from Dalziel Rugby Club, said: “We want to celebrate the strong links and friendships that have been built over the years between tournament hosts, Warsaw Frogs & Co and Dalziel Rugby Club.
“Over the past few weeks we have been running weekly team challenges to encourage players to stay active during the rugby shutdown, within social distancing guidelines.
“As the combined team distances increased week by week we wanted to set ourselves a significant challenge.
“Our social convenor, Jamie Muir, suggested travelling the equivalent distance from Motherwell to Warsaw in seven days.
“We had a senior team who had planned on attending the tournament and it’s fitting that we will have a virtual presence while supporting two very worthwhile charities.
The rugby club run three senior teams, youth teams from under 13 to under 18 and mixed Mini teams from primary one to primary seven.
The fundraising event is for club partner, Beatson Cancer Charity and Warsaw Rugby Tournament charity partner Prometeusz Dla Seniorów in Poland.
Elaine added: “There is a real buzz about the club with players from all age groups, coaches and members keen to contribute to the 2253km target by walking, running and cycling.
“Donations are being collected through JustGiving and with a few days until the challenge begins we have already raised almost half of our £2253 target.
“We know charities fundraising abilities are hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted to do something to help our partner, Beatson Cancer Charity and Frog’s chosen charity Prometeusz Dla Seniorów who provide assistance and advice to the elderly in Poland.”
You can donate to the fundraising efforts by logging onto www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dalziel-to-warsaw
