A Manchester rugby team were front and centre of a trailblazing annual tournament to raise money for vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Iain Taylor, a 55-year-old surveyor from Macclesfield, is an avid member and supporter of UK charity Wooden Spoon and played for the Northwest XV at their Vets Fest 22 event this weekend.
The tournament, held at Birmingham’s Moseley Rugby Football Club, celebrated its second year and featured over 700 players from 16 men’s and 10 women’s Vets teams across the country.
And with rugby playing such an important role in his own life, Taylor was delighted to give back to the community throughout a fun-filled day of action.
Taylor, who was greeted by HRH, The Princess Royal on a day of rugby celebration, said: “We’re representing Sussex as a whole today with Wooden Spoon, we are retired, still active playing team and we want to support Wooden Spoon through our contribution.
“It’s unbelievably supportive, I’ve met a couple of people here today that have had direct support from the Wooden Spoon charity.
“They’ve said the loss that they have suffered or the injuries that they’ve received, they cannot thank Wooden Spoon enough.”
Since 1983, Wooden Spoon have funded more than 1,300 projects, across the UK and Ireland, totalling over £29 million.
The winning teams won the Olly Stephens and Maddy Lawrence Memorial Cups to commemorate the lives of two young rugby players.
And Taylor was proud to honour their memory and continue their legacy as part of the charity.
He added: “Maddy started playing rugby at 20 and her family were so supportive of her playing rugby.
“They felt that she was in an extended family that offered her support in every aspect of the game, every aspect of the team and empowering women to carry on playing rugby.”
Taylor competed against fellow Vets throughout the day and was greeted by HRH, The Princess Royal, who attended an afternoon reception to meet people involved in the event and watch some of the games.
He said: “There are a couple of us who still play in rugby, but we just thought this vets team, opening up to women, as a vets side, is quite hard, because a lot of women drop out.
“They have families, they have careers, so to have this vets tournament and have women involved is so important to the women’s game.
“It’s been absolutely amazing out there, we’ve met some fantastic teams, women from all over the country, we played Scotland, we played Wales, and also all the individual counties around the country.
“It just brings us together to play the game we love – and we are so honoured to play in our Sussex colours.”
Register for next year’s Vets Fest event at: https://woodenspoon.org.uk/wooden-spoon-vets-fest-2023/
