These Manchester clubs and societies spent lockdown raising money for charity

A great number of Manchester clubs and societies have used their time in lockdown to make a positive difference. Thousands of miles have been run and thousands of pounds have been raised for some incredibly deserving causes.

In order to celebrate these amazing achievements, we have created a detailed list below of everything that these clubs have done, from cycling to Beirut to running a ‘Tour De Prem.’

University of Manchester Football Clubs

The men’s and women’s football clubs have recently teamed up to complete a ‘Tour De Prem’: over 10 days from 1-10th August, they collectively ran the distance between every Premier League football stadium (1,007 miles). Their plan was to raise £1,007, which would mean one pound per mile, for Show Racism The Red Card, which they have said uses football to educate against racism.

Conor O’Brien, Men’s Club Captain, said to The Manchester Tab: “With the Premier League restart highlighting the BLM movement, we felt as a club that we could do our own small part help raise awareness and some money to go towards Show Racism the Red Card.”

Elise Skelding, Women’s Club Captain, said to The Manchester Tab: “The BLM movement is far from over. We need to be fighting continuously to be able to live in a society where we all have equal opportunities.

“I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far, your donations, time and support is invaluable!”

University of Manchester Men’s Hockey Club

MUMHC players and friends simultaneously ran 10km from around the country on Sunday, May 24th, when they would have been running through Manchester in the Purple Wave. The club ran over a total of 300km and raised over £1,000 for NHS Charities Together.

A spokesperson for MUMHC said to The Manchester Tab: “It was tough in isolation but any money was good and we were really pleased to break a grand given all the circumstances.”

MUMHC has also recently announced that they will be cycling to Beirut. The club will complete a cumulative 3000 miles raising money for the @impact.lebanon disaster relief fund.

University of Manchester Women’s Lacrosse Club

UMWLC collectively ran the length of the UK in support of Show Racism The Red Card, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. 41 runners completed the 1407km within 7 days from the 3rd-10th of June.

Katie Brennan, the club’s Fundraising Sec told The Manchester Tab: “We started off with the goal of raising £750 which I thought was optimistic at the time but now we have raised over £3,500!

“We are so grateful to everyone who has donated.”

University of Manchester RFC

The rugby union club raised £2,719 for Manchester Royal Infirmary with their Continental Challenge. They collectively ran or cycled between all the Six Nations stadiums and beyond, completing 3,200 miles within a week.

Harry Marples, a member of the club, said to The Manchester Tab: “This challenge was a great opportunity for the rugby club to work together during lockdown for a fantastic cause, and a massive thank you to all that took part.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the club showing the same level of commitment on the field and at the socials next year #bleedpurple”

Manchester Hindu Society NHSF

The Manchester Hindu Society collectively ran 500k over the month of June in order to raise money for the charity Sewa Day. In total, they raised over £500 for the charity.

University of Manchester Cycling Club

Over the month of July, UMCC challenged its members to ride 1200km by the end of the month. Members could either team up to reach the goal or ride the whole distance themselves. This was in support of the charity Maggie’s, which provides free cancer support and information in centres across the UK and online.

A spokesperson for UMCC said to The Manchester Tab: “As a club we logged over 10,000 km in the month. It’s been a challenge of both physical and mental toughness (especially on rainy days) but worth it to support Maggie’s, and get us all riding – even if we can’t all ride together in Manchester.”

University of Manchester Tyrants

Members of the Tyrants did 50 squats a day, every day, for 30 days from 29th June to 28th July in order to raise money for One Nation. One Nation is a UK-based relief and development charity which supports local and international relief projects to help improve lives. So far, the Tyrants have raised over £1,700.

Toby Mcmanus, the Club Captain, said to The Manchester Tab: “Over lockdown, we wanted to raise money for a good cause through a physical challenge which would also keep all our members active.

“One Nation was instrumental in helping us set up our donation link so that we could focus on getting maximum awareness about the Yemen crisis through our Instagram and Facebook page.”

University of Manchester Korfball

13 members of Korfball also completed the Purple Wave from home, running 10k each on the 24th May, in support of Manchester Mind. They raised over £1,000 for the charity, which supports better mental health for the people of Manchester.

University of Manchester Basketball Club

UMBC is holding a virtual Euro Tour, in which members of the club will track ‘any physical activities that involve distance’ that they do in order to complete a tour around the UK and Europe. Each week the club has different destinations and distances which they aim to cover. All proceeds will be donated to StreetGames, a UK based charity committed to harnessing the power of sport to create positive change in the lives of disadvantaged young people across the UK.

Tom Myers, the club’s Fundraising Sec, said to The Manchester Tab: “The Club chose to work with StreetGames UK as we feel that their philosophy of harnessing the power of sport to overcome social challenges and injustice for the underprivileged youth echoes greatly with UMBC’s core values on diversity and inclusivity.”

University of Manchester’s European Union of Women Society

European Union of Women UoM did a Walk for Women’s Aid, fundraising for The Pankhurst Trust. They encouraged all to either walk or run 5-10k and then donate to the cause over the month of June, in total they raised over £500.

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