Collingwood Football Club preparing for 24 hour run to help fight sexual abuse

It is clear through their 24-hour run planned for tomorrow, Saturday 31st October, that CCAFC is not letting the pandemic hold their fundraising efforts back.

Participants in the event will be running through Durham wearing fancy dress, with at least one runner participating at any time. In order to avoid crowds building up, runners will be tracked on Strava with no fixed start or end point.

CCAFC’s 2018 Fundraiser

All donations from the event will go to RSACC, the Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre in Durham and Darlington. The charity offers free confidential support and counselling to women over the age of 13 who are victims of sexual and domestic violence. The national lockdown has caused a surge in cases and applicants for the service currently have to wait six to twelve months on average to access support.

Raising money for charity is not new to the club. In the 2018/2019 academic year, they raised over £10,000 for CALM, a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide and last year the club raised almost £6000 for SSMCF, a foundation which aims to promote the development of young people through free sports coaching.

CCAFC’s 2019 Fundraiser

Social distancing rules have made fundraising harder, admits CCAFC outreach officer Daniel Aitched. “We would usually be planning our annual 24-hour football match, but it is just not possible this term due to all these restrictions. These are challenging times for everyone, especially for RSACC, so at least we’ve been able to do something to provide support to this cause.”

Daniel adds: “Hopefully by supporting a cause that is particularly relevant to Durham students, it shows that as a football club we will not tolerate any forms of sexual violence, as well as try to actively improve things through awareness and education to try and make it a safer environment for our members and other students in Durham.”

From the 27th of October to the 3rd of November any donations up to £75 will be doubled by a Localgiving campaign.

You can donate to CCAFC’s fundraiser by following this link.