News

Durham colleges unite for third annual charity rugby challange

(7 November 2005)

Durham University faces Nottingham University in the third annual Charity Rugby Challenge at Durham City Rugby Clubs’ Hollow Drift ground in aid of Sport in Action: Zambia on Wednesday 9 November

The purpose of the event is again to raise awareness and valuable funds for the fight against the spread of the HIV AIDS virus in Zambia, and in doing so joint organisers Team Durham and DUCK (Durham University Charities Kommittee) hope to attract a larger crowd than the record 6,000 that attended last year’s event, almost half of the University’s student population.

The evening’s entertainment will be ‘kicked off’ by a college kicking challenge at 6.30pm. A nominated kicker from each college will kick from 20m, and then at 5m increments, until only two remain with the remaining two kickers facing off during half time interval.

At 6:55pm cheerleaders from Durham’s colleges will introduce the annual inter-college ‘Welly Wanging’ contest, for the coveted ‘Golden Welly’ to be presented by the Durham University Athletic Union President, Quentin Sloper. At 7:15pm a band will lead up to the 7:30pm kick off.

Sport in Action: Zambia originated as Team Durham’s official charity after Director of Sport Peter Warburton led Zambia’s first ever national conference on sport and physical education in the capital city Lusaka in the autumn of 2004. Durham University has since joined forces with the universities of Bath, Loughborough, Northumbria, Stirling and UWIC to form the Wallace Group and in so doing formalise a partnership to promote national and international sporting projects.

The first major project will see the universities working with UK Sport through IDEALS (International Development of Excellence & Leadership through Sport) and Sport in Action: Zambia, on a unique project which will seek to empower young people of Lusaka to use sport and recreation as a vehicle to promote healthy lifestyles. A key focus will be to address the major concern of the HIV AIDS virus.

Durham University Director of Sport, Dr Peter Warburton, commented “I am delighted that the Wallace Group has decided to support the Zambian project as their first joint venture. With this in mind the Charity Rugby match, against Nottingham, takes on even greater significance as we seek to offer further help and support to Sport in Action. My sincere thanks go to Nottingham for agreeing to play in this showpiece fixture and to the many students and staff who make this fixture possible.”

The project will build on the work already undertaken by Durham University over the last two years. The next stage of the project is to send staff and 36 students, six from each partner university, who will work on projects in Lusaka next year with the Zambian sports development team. Clement Chilese, Executive Director, Sport in Action: Zambia, said during his recent visit to the UK that “the Zambia project will have a direct impact on improving the lives of the community in Lusaka.”

In the previous two years the charity rugby match has raised approximately £5,000 for both the English Federation of Disability Sport, and Sport in Action: Zambia.