The Division 2 East club, whose head coach Jon Burgess and defence coach Chris Macey have been assisted by local boys Harrison Keddie (Dragons) and Angus O’Brien (Scarlets) this season, was due to celebrate its 50th birthday in style before the pandemic struck.
Instead of cancelling their half-century celebrations outright, Caerleon struck upon an idea to mark the occasion in a meaningful fashion.
“A number of the senior and youth squad decided on setting a challenge to raise some money for a charity,” explains fixture secretary Richard Harris. “It was decided to cover a mile for every month the club has been running.”
It would be no mean feat, entailing a total of 2,600 miles on foot during the month of June.
Harris says: “The boys decided on raising funds for the British Heart Foundation. It’s a charity close to the club’s heart after losing two good friends in Grahaeme Thomas and Craig Fuller in the last few years, and a number of other Caerleon RFC members in the past.”
The squad hit 2,600 miles on 22nd June, but as a collective felt they still had more left in the tank. “We decided to increase the target by another 1,000 miles,” says Harris. “Again the boys dug deep and finished on 30th June covering a total of 3,739.84 miles. More importantly, as of 2nd July, a sum of £3,352 has been raised for the charity.”
With all those miles in the bank, Caerleon should be able to hit the ground running when they get together for pre-season – in what they hope will be the very near future.
Caerleon’s 50th anniversary donation page for the British Heart Foundation can be found here.
