As the curtain came down on Leeds Rhinos home fixtures for the 2017 season last Friday, representatives from Leeds Rhinos Players Association joined Leeds Rhinos Foundation Chief Operating Officer Bob Bowman and Chairman Phil Caplan to present a cheque for £10,000 to support the work of Leeds Rhinos’ official charity
The money has been raised at a number of fundraising events throughout the season organised by the committee during a busy year for the Players Association.
Association Secretary Phil Holmes said:
“We have had an extended calendar this year to accommodate a number of events that have all grown in size in 2017. The Wetherby Race Day took place for the first time and was extremely well attended and great fun with our own Marque, bar and food.
“The annual luncheon, which is our main event of the year, was also very well attended with nearly 300 attending along with the first of our Anniversary Dinners celebrating the 1957 and 1977 challenge Cup winners, including the first inductees to the Hall of Fame.
“The year has also included the Magic Weekend Trip, which again was attended by a record number of people and the annual Golf Day supported by the players, which attracted the most sponsored teams to date and is growing in popularity every year.
“We have also had a very successful match day raffle giving the fans a chance to win some great pieces of memorabilia which would normally be auctioned at somewhere between £100-200 for just £5, so it’s been a great year.”
In attendance at the game was Chief Operating Officer for Leeds Rhinos Foundation Bob Bowman QPM, who gratefully received the cheque which will support the charity throughout the coming year.
Bowman said:
“We are extremely grateful once again to the Players Association for their donation which gets bigger every year due to the hard work of their committee.
“This donation will help us deliver projects in the heart of the Leeds community which along with health, education and heritage projects, includes a growing rugby league development department team increasing the standards and numbers of young people playing our great game, providing opportunities for all and some stars of the future.”
Phil Holmes, who is a trustee of the Leeds Rhinos Foundation added:
“We feel that the work of Leeds Rhinos Foundation is very wide ranging and positively promotes the playing of rugby league in schools and the amateur game and far out reaches anything we could match in our Association.
“To raise the amount this year which has increased twofold over the last three seasons shows our commitment to doing as much as we can to keep the sport of rugby league alive. As former players, the Association are proud to put back into the game that gave us so much.”
The Leeds Rhinos Players Association are looking for new sponsorship for the coming year including booking a table at Luncheons and dinners, sponsoring a golf team or even as headline sponsors for an event.
If you would like to find out more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Phil Holmes at pnholmes@gmail.com