Author: Denys Andrianjafy

This Monday Bank Holiday, Canterbury Rugby Club was delighted to host an inaugural bat & trap tournament organised by Verum Financial with sponsors Shepherd Neame and Burgess Hodgson,  to raise funds for the Kent  MS Therapy Centre. Attended by over 300 people in the glorious sunshine, teams were entered to play for the tournament cup and fiercely contested the prize. Attendees enjoyed good food, good beer, and good(ish) sportsmanship.

The winning team, Clivey’s Ancient, took the spoils on the day, knocking out the Bat and Trap Committee, then beating The Handsome Brewers. Thank you to all who attended and a thank you to all those involved in organising the day. From the extremely positive feedback we have already received, it certainly looks like an annual competition to add to our diaries.

Organisers Verum said of the day –

“We were delighted to support KMSTC with organising this fantastic tournament and overwhelmed by the number of teams who elected to take part in this inaugural event. 

The added benefit of strong relations with Canterbury Rugby Club, and their willingness to be involved, certainly assisted with the overall success!

So much fun was had.  We will now learn from our experiences gained, put this knowledge to good use and endeavour to create a popular yearly fundraising event promoting both a unique local ‘pub’ game and worthy charity.”

Spencer Goddard, CEO of Kent MS Therapy Centre, said –

“Thank you to all of those that attended the inaugural Bat & Trap Tournament held to support our Charity. It was great to meet so many people and share our charities perspective and the work we are carrying out. The event allowed us to raise our profile and funds to support people living with MS in Kent. We would like to thank Verum Financial, particularly Matt Pitchacaren and Matt Carr, and in addition the fantastic Shepherd Neame and Burgess Hodgson for sponsoring the event. We look forward to the continuing development of a working relationship between Kent MS Therapy Centre and Canterbury Rugby Club and the opportunities created for us both.”

Giles Hilton, Chairman of Canterbury Rugby Club commented –

“CRFC were delighted to have been involved in a community event supporting KMSTC. Goes a long way to show that we’re not just a single sport Club and that we join happily with our Partners”

Owen West, 19, is refusing to let the spinal condition that has made him wheelchair-bound from holding him back. A keen sportsman, Owen plays wheelchair rugby for the Canterbury Hellfires and wheelchair basketball for the Folkstone Arrows. He is now going to have to muster all of his ability in captaining a team of 60 participants from across the UK to take part in a virtual summer challenge. It team member has a disability of some sort and have accepted the challenge of collectively traveling the equivalent of the circumference of the world in any way they can, be it in a wheelchair or using a walking frame. To be clear and to illustrate the scale of what they have taken on, the distance they will travel will be more than 46,000km. They have until August 20th to complete the task, with each participant logging progress daily. One of four teams taking part, Owen is leading the Captain America team, with his pet cat Oriel on his lap as his sidekick.

Every day, Owen is out on the street in his Captain America costume, putting in the distance. Should the weather get too hot, he even has a contingency having worked out that 136 laps of his living room equals 1km.

At the age of 15, Owen discovered he suffered from 3 rare genetic disorders – type 3 Loeys-Dietz syndrome, KBG Syndrome and CDK13. Because of these, he is unable to walk, has learning difficulties, is losing his eye-sight, and is often in pain. His mum Shelley West, though, is proud of her son for never complaining and never letting himself be beaten.

Through the challenge, Owen hopes to raise funds for Whizz-Kidz and Freedom for wheels. Both of whom have supported him in the difficult times he has had.

You can donate via the following JustGiving pages

Whizz-Kidz – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shelley-west5?fbclid=IwAR0U9o0p4HUWH2oZ3MNXvghaJiJFOzsjOfa3I8FwSU5E7vC__wVtkred5KI

Freedom for Wheels – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/owenwest?fbclid=IwAR09wbTTlRbkW81djUCtemDCmWK0GLfz_qzQqlOwUL7kVjhUNe11R2fnJS0

Please give generously if you can to help get essential funding to these very worthy organizations.

For the full story, visit the KentOnline article.

To all those who can attend, our AGM will be held at the Marine Travel Ground clubhouse Tuesday 9th August at 8pm. We will also be giving a send-off to the three reconditioned ambulances which through the efforts of CRFC and Marine Travel are off to assist with the atrocities in Ukraine. The ambulances will be leaving at 7.30 and we invite all who can attend to come along to send them on their way.

Come and join our summer rugby camp Tuesday 30th & Wednesday 31st August: 9.00 am – 3.00 pm

Open to boys and girls U7-U16

Run by RFU Level 2 and 3 coaches, along with 1st XV guest coaches.

Rugby focuses – attack, defence, and transition.

Off-field focuses – values, nutrition, and prehab sessions.

We will be running clinics in
Scrummaging	Throwing and Lifting	Kicking

Cost 1 day £30 (non-members £35) – 2 days £50 (non-members £60)

BOOK HERE

Pay on arrival with cash or card

It has been an extremely busy time at Marine Travel Ground with two hugely successful events on consecutive days, the Mark 22 Ball on Friday 10^th, and the Barretts Ball on Saturday 11^th June. With nearly 1000 guests across the two nights, we would not have been able to achieve them without the mammoth efforts of our staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly in the background to ensure all was correctly set up and in place to welcome revellers and give them the best possible experience. The club would like to take the time to acknowledge and applaud them. Thank you all for the work, effort,  and expertise you put into making these events possible.

We would also like to thank our partners:

Maypole Marquees, for assembling an excellent venue for two fantastic nights;

1^st Setting, for supplying all the crockery and cutlery we could ever desire;

Saucy Flo’s for catering such a quantity two nights on the bounce;

Orbital for ensuring our network of tills operated with perfect connectivity;

Ritty for supplying extra tills so our staff were never waiting to be able to serve our guests drinks;

MorePour for installing the many fonts from which beer could flow;

121 Cleaning for their amazing quick, early morning turnarounds which guaranteed the venue was spotless for the next event;

SEC Work Groups for printing two stunning facias which adorned the entryway to our marquees;

Luckhurst Scaffolding for assembling a great towering structure upon which the facias could be installed;

Smiths Family Fun Fairs for operating the ever-popular dodgems;

Canterbury Bouncy Castle Hire for bringing us Twister;

The KD Dance Orchestra for playing the songs that kept the dancefloor filled and the party in full swing;

Paladin Innovations for assembling a fantastic lighting rig, a booming sound system, and making sure the party would go long into the night;

Temptationtowers for the selfie mirror, giving us hilarious memories of the two events;

Max Shand and Team for being on-site both nights to provide confidence, security, and safety to all there.