Staff from Haydock-based Handepay are using rugby league’s showpiece Grand Final to smash through their charity fundraising target for 2016.
A total of 23 Handepay staff will walk the 18 miles from their office to Old Trafford on Saturday October 8, before enjoying a well-deserved seat to watch the match.
The rugby connection is especially apt as the company has been raising funds since May for the Steve Prescott Foundation - and this sponsored walk will take Handepay’s total past the £10,000 target they set to achieve.
Members of the foundation, some of whom will be climbing Mt Everest in October, will be joining and encouraging the Handepay staff on their walk.
The Foundation was set up in 2007 by the former St Helens, Wakefield and Hull player Steve Prescott, following his diagnosis with cancer. The Great Britain and Ireland international passed away in 2013 from rare form of cancer, pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) and, in recognition of his amazing fundraising efforts, rugby’s end of season Man of Steel award is now named after him.
Andy Peake, managing director of Handepay, says: “The Steve Prescott Foundation is a cause close to our hearts and we are proud to contribute to carrying on the brilliant fundraising work Steve did in the final years of his life.
“At Handepay, we regularly go the extra mile for our customers, so the prospect of a walk to Manchester from Haydock won’t scare us!”
Martin Blondel, general manager of The Steve Prescott Foundation said: “£10,000 is a huge sum and to deliver it in just five months is testimony to Handepay’s dedication to helping the people of the North West. The funds they’ve raised will enable us to make a difference to the lives of those who need it. ”
The walkers are expected at Old Trafford at about 1400 and Hotel Football have very kindly offered to welcome them with hospitality and refreshments.