Author: Denys Andrianjafy

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.