As part of the testimonial year the events will raise funds for the following charities. Each charity Will has been involved with over this career and we are proudly supporting them this year.
Sharks foundation
Sale Sharks Foundation is the charity partner of Sale Sharks, delivering programmes across health, education, inclusion, and grassroots rugby. Our mission is to promote physical and mental wellbeing in children and adults across the North West using the power of sport.
Established in 2010, Sale Sharks Foundation has spent the last decade changing over 75,000 lives in communities across our region. Committed to introducing rugby to people of all ages and abilities, teaching vital life skills, tackling inequality and ultimately growing the Sharks Family.
The Foundation is proud to offer a broad and diverse range of programmes from wheelchair rugby and veterans’ groups to rugby camps and classroom sessions for 16-18 who are outside of mainstream education. To find out more about our work over the previous 12 months, take a look at Sharks Watch
The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree is a children’s cancer charity that is dedicated to working closely with families affected by childhood cancers.
The Joshua Tree was founded in 2006 by Lynda and David Hill after their son was diagnosed with leukaemia.They discovered a distinct lack of support services for all family members during the traumatic experience of childhood cancer. Lynda Hill, Founder of The Joshua Tree Charity, has utilised her degree in Psychology and MSc in Practitioner Research to aid her role in setting up the family support aspect of the charity along with her personal experiences. In 2015, she was awarded Cheshire Woman of the Year for her service to the community.
The Family Support Team are dedicated to working closely with families to the charity in recognising that every family’s cancer journey is unique. Tailoring the services to suit the family’s specific needs, by means of emotional and practical support. Such as counselling, art and play therapy, health and wellbeing advice, support in and around the home and educational tutoring where required.
Josh is now a healthy young man who has reaped the benefits of the physical fitness and nutritional development offered by the support services. He is currently studying Health and Fitness to help more young people overcome the effects of childhood cancers.
The charity’s interest in clinical research continues with the development of links with surrounding universities to better understand the effects that childhood cancer has on a family emotionally, cognitively and physically.
The focus remains at the heart of the charity to continue to offer support to the whole family, from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond. We specifically recognising that post-treatment can be a challenging time when families are having to adapt to their ‘new normal.’ The charity offers support to help bridge the gap that’s left when the safety net of treatment ends.
Restart Rugby
Restart is the official charity of The Rugby Players Association (RPA) and we are dedicated to supporting professional rugby players suffering from serious injury, illness or hardship.
We provide financial and practical support to players and their families during difficult times, including help with the cost of medical treatment, rehabilitation equipment and disability support. We’re also there when players need emotional support to help with mental health issues, by providing a 24/7 Confidential Counselling Service.
We receive no government or lottery funding so the work we do is funded entirely through voluntary donations and fundraising activity. We completely rely on the support of businesses, rugby supporters, fundraisers, generous donors and the players themselves to raise funds each year for those in need.