Eccles Rugby Club hosted the annual aussie rules footy tournament, the Movember Cup, raising almost £5000 for men’s health.
The event was held on Saturday 9 November and was hosted in memory of a former member who tragically lost their battle with cancer.
The tournament was set up by the Manchester Mosquitoes, a local Men’s Australian Rules football club who have been running the competition for 10 years.
Eccles Rugby Club generously provided their facilities, with club volunteers helping manage the logistics of the day to ensure everything ran smoothly.
Club Secretary, Zac Greed shared how important Eccles Ruby Club were in helping with the event, saying: “We’ve been in Eccles for the past three years, it’s a huge club with four pitches which means we can get more teams involved and raise more money.
“We plan to stay in Eccles, we have a great setup there with the rugby club and they really look after us.”
He continued: “I feel proud to help organise it, it was only a small handful of us who put it together, but we couldn’t do it without the generosity of Eccles Rugby Club and obviously all the teams that participated, it was a really great day and great cause.”
The competition brought together teams from four different countries with 400 players taking part to support the Movember Foundation’s efforts to raise awareness for men’s health issues, including prostate cancer, mental health, and suicide prevention.
Zac spoke about the huge interest coming into the event, he said: “We had teams from London, Scotland and Ireland taking part.
“We also had interest from Paris and Amsterdam this year but unfortunately we couldn’t get the teams across for the big day.”
This year’s competition saw West London Wildcats dominate, winning both the men’s and women’s divisions, which saw the tournament feature high-energy matches throughout the day.
The event also received support from a range of local businesses and volunteers who made it all possible.
The Manchester-based sushi restaurant, Rolled, sponsored the event and auctioned their free sushi for life gold card, raising a huge £560.
However, the Movember Cup is more than just a rugby tournament – it’s a community effort to raise awareness and funds for important health issues affecting men.
As donations continue to roll in, the event looks set to continue growing in both size and impact in future years.
Zac emphasised the importance of looking after mental health and how the Movember Cup plays a key role in keeping the conversation going, helping to raise awareness.
As he added: “There’s someone on every team who’s had personal experiences with cancer or mental health, whether that be a family member or personally. So it’s such a great cause.”
The £5,000 was raised through entry fees, raffle ticket sales, and auctioned items will be donated to Movember.
Movember is the leading charity for men’s health, supporting causes such as mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.
It is amazing to see the response and effort from the fundraiser and Eccles Rugby Club to help with the mission of the charity.
For those interested in supporting the Movember campaign further, donations can still be made online here.
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