Pass the Ball team prepare to start their challenge
A team of fundraisers are busy preparing for an epic challenge that will see them walk or cycle from Twickenham Stadium, the Home of England Rugby, to Stourbridge Rugby Club in the West Midlands to raise money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity and the Rugby Football Union’s Injured Players Foundation.
The event kicks off on Wednesday 1 May, with the group of walkers setting off from Twickenham Stadium on the first leg of their journey through England. The team will be led by Peter Bache, Co-Owner of European Valuations, a valuation and auctioneering company, who is no stranger to fundraising.
Peter was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in February 2017, where he received world-class care. Inspired by his treatment, in 2018, Peter led a large team of fundraisers on the Dick Whittington Walk from Gloucestershire to London. They followed in the footsteps of the historical figure, and raised money to support research into prostate cancer at the hospital.
Following the success of this event, which raised an incredible £61,372, Peter decided to take on another fundraising challenge. Peter said: “I want to continue to give back to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham’s Prostate Cancer Fund, and now I want to also raise money for the RFU’s Injured Players Foundation (IPF) which supports rugby players with catastrophic injuries.”
The event name, Pass the Ball, refers to the rugby ball that the team will carry with them as they walk. The ball, which promotes this year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, has been travelling the world with the World Cup trophy.
The team will carry the ball all the way from Twickenham to Stourbridge Rugby Club, with the ball then being auctioned at the annual Stourbridge Rugby Club Lunch on the final day of the walk.
The intrepid walkers will be joined later in the challenge by a keen team of cyclists, who will be following a similar route from Twickenham to Stourbridge. The cycling team will set off on 8 May, arriving at Stourbridge alongside the walkers to celebrate the end of their walk with a fundraising lunch!
Peter Bache said: “We are all greatly looking forward to the start of the Pass the Ball challenge, and the fun that we’ll have along the way! We’ve had so much support already, with many rugby clubs offering to host us on our way up to Stourbridge.
“The money that we’ll raise will make a huge difference to prostate cancer patients like me at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, and the rugby players who benefit from the incredible work of the Injured Players Foundation.”
You can find out more about Pass the Ball, and donate to support their fundraising efforts, here.