Rovers feeling charitable this Christmas!

Hellenic Leag ue Premier Division club Tuffley Rovers have, like many clubs, seen their on-field action this season disrupted by the impact of Covid-19 but they have still been busy, as a series of charitable, fund-raising ventures have been undertaken across the club’s nine senior teams.

In the late summer several of the club’s players and new Chairman, Dan Boon, completed a marathon walk in aid of Heart Heroes, raising over £3,600 for the local charity, before the club’s commercial team then partnered with their Ladies’ team sponsor, local sign-making firm Severn Signs, to raise more money for the same cause, through the sale of pitch-side advertising barriers. The club took no profit from the sales and helped to raise over £700.

The club were finally able to present the funds to Heart Heroes’ founder, Kelly Cornish, this week, with the funds of over £4,000 likely to make a real difference to the children who are supported by the charity.

“We been blown away by the support from The Tuffley Rovers club. We were lucky enough to see the lads when they finished their walk and most had been pushed to the limit. The amount raised was totally amazing. We’d like to say “thank you” to all involved”, said Kelly.

The club are now also in the process of collecting money to donate to a Christmas Food Bank, organised by the Podsmead Big Local, so that people who are struggling with food poverty.

Chairman, Dan Boon, is hoping this isn’t the last of the fund-raising efforts, whichever charity the club is trying to support.

“We’ve previously done a lot of fund-raising with another local charity, The James Hopkins Trust, but one of our players has a direct association to Heart Heroes, so we decided to give them some support this season”, he confirmed. “However, we are also keen to build on our relationship with the local community and what better cause than helping to ensure people have food on the table this Christmas?”, he added.

After the recent successes, the club have committed to doing all they can to help local charities and the local community and it is hoped that 2021 will see yet more activity to support these fantastic causes.

Attention has already turned to another campaign supporting Heart Heroes, with the club determined to support the charity in their quest to help families affected by Covid-19 who need portable ECG devices to support routine checks. £100 will help a child have essential checks that have been delayed by the cancellation of hospital appointments during the pandemic. Further details can be found via: https://www.kindlink.com/fundraising/Heart-Heroes/alivecor.

Kelly confirmed that the ECG devices will make a real difference to the families supported by the charity.

“These devices will help and facilitate the diagnosis of arrhythmia in our children and help in arriving at an early diagnosis in those with delayed access to services and those with infrequent symptoms. This will help cardiologists pick up the children with spaced symptoms, as well as get help for those who have been on the waiting list for a long time, due to Covid-19 interruptions.”

If any individuals or local businesses want to help the club and support the local charity they are urged to make contact via Commercial@tuffleyroversfc.co.uk for further details.