Wakefield clubs unite to walk for beds

Castleford Tigers are joining forces with neighbours Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity with their newly appointed charity partner, Prosper Wakefield District, to tackle a variety of social issues across the district.

The pro-clubs partnership brings together the Foundations from each club and aims to foster stronger, healthier and more inclusive communities through pooling resources, expertise and influence. Having a districtwide collaboration will achieve significant impact to children who are living in bed poverty and will make a lasting difference

An estimated 6,000 children don’t have a bed of their own to sleep in as identified by Barnardo’s No Crib for a Bed Report. The partnership will use the power of sport to address issues like child bed poverty with The Wakefield Children’s Bed Appeal. 

Competitions have been suspended as all three local rugby league clubs join forces to tackle child bed poverty with a Walk to Wakefield to raise some much needed funds to be shared between the Castleford Tigers Community Foundation and the Wakefield Children’s Bed appeal. 

Kath Lindley, Chief Executive of Prosper Wakefield District, said: “In this day and age, to find out that 6,000 children in the Wakefield district don’t sleep in a bed of their own is shocking.  In some cases, they are sleeping on the floor, on cushions, in chairs, and even in the bath, which is why we felt compelled to do what we can to help. Having the 3 pro-clubs working in partnership to generate funds is huge and will enable us to raise even more awareness of the campaign.”​​​​​​​

Castleford Tigers Foundation manager Anthony Atherton said: “The power of Rugby League is a wonderful thing. We want to use our influence, including our fan base, to tackle inequalities and drive positive change to benefit all our local communities.  It’s a real worry to read that so many children don’t have a bed to sleep in, we hope this provides more opportunities to sleep well and dream big!”

This groundbreaking partnership will give back to the district, through a co-ordinated programme of fundraising initiatives the three clubs will run throughout the year.  The first of these is the Walk To Wakefield event, which sees staff and supporters from Castleford Tigers covering the 8 miles that separate them from Wakefield Trinity, on foot.  They will set off at 4pm on Thursday 17^th April, and head to the game that kicks off at 8pm that evening.

The foundation will be collecting donations via Just Giving and using the funds generated to continue the sustained work of the foundation and donate to specialist children’s bed charity Zarach, who will deliver high-quality beds that are safe, comfortable, and built to last to children living in bed poverty within the Wakefield District.  Every £150 raised buys a child’s bed frame, mattress, duvet, bedding, pillow and pyjamas.  The beds will be delivered to families in need, with Castleford Tigers players working with an army of volunteers deliver the bed bundles directly to households within their community.

The clubs are on the lookout for those wishing to take part, and also looking to share the Just Giving Page to help collect the funding:

Walk to Wakefield

• Thursday 17th April
• 4:00pm departure from The Jungle (approx.. 7:30pm arrive Belle Vue)
• To take part contact: foundation@castigers.com
• To donate: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/walktowakefield