Thirty-five employees have volunteered to take part in the fundraising events which sees four teams running Ty Hafan’s charity shops in Barry, Bridgend, Caerphilly and Cardiff.
As well as donating and selling goods, the teams have already been heard at the watercooler plotting additional fundraising activities like social media auctions and raffles at local businesses.
No one is more competitive than former Wales and British & Irish Lion Ryan Jones who heads up Rugby Participation and is team captain, based out of the Caerphilly store, for the occasion.
“I’m quietly confident my team have got this!” said the former Wales and Ospreys captain and three times grand slam winner. “And I’ve announced on social media that if we get to £500 by Thursday I’ll wax my legs!”
He added: “It’s been great fun already and a real privilege to get the opportunity to fundraise for such a worthy cause while getting to know colleagues away from the office environment. The effort and work-rate shown in preparation for Thursday has blown me away and we’ll be pulling out all the stops to raise as much as we can for Ty Hafan, who have also been superb in helping us plan for Thursday’s store take-over.”
Fundraising efforts so far include convincing referee Nigel Owens to take part, with plenty more surprises planned across the stores. British & Irish Lions, Wales and Scarlets hooker Ken Owens was the star guest in 2013, when the WRU worked with Ty Hafan to raise more than £7,500 from stores in Barry and Bridgend. It is hoped the teams can more than double that figure with four teams on the go in 2017.
Rhodri Lewis, Head of Legal Affairs, said: “When we asked employees what they would like to do for a team building activity this summer, they voted overwhelmingly in favour of fundraising for a Welsh charity.
“With the huge buzz already for Thursday’s challenge, I’m pretty sure corporate ‘team building’ doesn’t get any better than this! I would like to thank all those who are participating and wish the teams huge success in their fundraising activities; hopefully we can raise significant new funds for Ty Hafan.”
You can find out more about the individual teams, the stores involved, and support the fundraising activities via the following links:
www.justgiving.com/wru
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wrutakeover
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/natasha-morgan7
www.justgiving.com/Ryan-Hopkins2
