Leeds Rhinos Foundation celebrated another outstanding year in 2017, working with thousands of people through a wide variety of projects they deliver in the community.
Under the banner of health, the charity have helped people looking to regain their fitness through their Try Club men’s health programme, their new Active Beyond Cancer rehabilitation course, run in partnership with Yorkshire Cancer Research has supported people in Leeds who have been diagnosed with Cancer and projects such as Rhinos Active Social and the Intouch Dementia group has provided a vital provision for some of the city’s most vulnerable people.
In schools it has been a landmark year, with the charity now working with 92 primary schools to deliver high quality coaching in different sports whilst continuing to offer assemblies on areas such as anti-bullying and team work, using the Super League Champions, Leeds Rhinos as inspiration.
A new partnership with Aspire CBS ensures the charity are able to continue their commitment to making sport accessible for everyone with more coaching now offered in the community for those with learning disabilities and in 2018 the charity will launch their first Rhinos Physical Disability team,
In 2017 the charity’s education delivery has helped even more people. 19 individuals have benefitted from the Work Club group, which aims to help prepare people and get them back in employment. Many of the people who attend this project are human traffic and domestic violence victims or have special needs such as mental illness or alcohol dependency. The Onside project, delivered in HMP Leeds and Weasltun has continued to be a huge success with 67 prisoners completing the course that aims to tackle the issue of reoffending.
The Rugby League Development Plan, sponsored by Mears, which aims to get more people playing the game has had some major achievements this year, with record numbers taking part in the annual Rhinos Challenge event and Ambassador Festivals. Participation in Women’s Rugby League has continued to increase with more girls taking part in a High School rugby than ever before. The Women’s game in Leeds also received a major boost with the launch of the first Leeds Rhinos Women’s team.
Other significant accomplishments include another successful Children’s Day, the launch of the Leeds Rhinos Netball team and the unveiling of a memorial stone at Emerald Headingley to commemorate the 16 Leeds Rugby Players who lost their lives during the First World War.
The charity were supported by players from the Leeds Rhinos squad who made regular appearances at Leeds Rhinos Foundation events, which included holiday camps, the Onside prison project, Inspiring Champions and the annual visit to the Leeds Children’s Hospital.
There has been outstanding support from the club's key partners and supporters and in July 85 runners raised over £10,000 for Leeds Rhinos Foundation by taking part in the Leeds 10k as part of the Run with the Rhinos team. In May Leeds Rhinos Foundation's Director of Operations, Bob Bowman, raised thousands of pounds to fund the work the charity delivers by taking on an incredible 15 marathons in 15 days.
Speaking about the year, Bowman said: "We have enjoyed an incredible year in 2017, working in more schools than ever before and helping increased numbers get involved in rugby league. In schools we engaged with close to 40,000 children and delivered 12,056 sessions across our five pillars of health, education, sport, heritage and arts.
"We would like to thank everyone who has supported our charity in 2017 and we are looking forward to another big year ahead, with some exciting projects that will further help us achieve our mission to change lives through sport."
If you would like to support the work of Leeds Rhinos Foundation email bob.bowman@leedsrhinosfoundation.org