Hi,

My name is Theo, and I've been playing rugby on and off since I was a teenager. I've had the privilege of playing for clubs across Devon, Lancashire, and Greater Manchester over the last decade and I've loved every minute of it. About eighteen months ago, my partner and I relocated hundreds of miles away from our families and friends to a small rural village in South Wales. I was so nervous about what our next chapter had in store for us. But what I didn't know was that only down the road, at Ynysddu RFC, was the group of women who were going to completely change my life.

Making History in the Premiership

In the upcoming 25/26 season, after winning the Championship undefeated, Ynysddu BG Women's team will be playing Premiership rugby for the first time ever. This is a really big deal, and we are all so proud that we get the opportunity to represent our club at this level.

However, this recognition of our skill and hard work isn't all rainbows and sunbeams. The reality of maintaining ourselves in the Premiership is that we all as players need to take on communal responsibility for the economic sustainability of our team. I know for many who compete in women's sport, this won't come as a surprise.

Competing in a women's National League means:

- Playing games with 10-hour return travel times

- Paying thousands per game for minibuses because our we compete on Sundays

- Taking out private health insurance because it isn't covered by the club

- Increasing out-of-training fitness work because we all work full time

- Purchasing league-appropriate kit (which, for example, would cost over £10,000 for just a twenty-three player team alone, and we have over thirty players registered)

The unfortunate reality is that it's hard to be a successful grassroots women's sports team. But we aren't just a team at Ynysddu – we are a family. And that's why we need to find a way to make it work.

Supporting Platfform Mental Health Charity

Many of my teammates have local sponsors for the upcoming season, but I want to use this opportunity to bring some attention to the charity Platfform. Platfform is a mental health charity that focuses on social change and community as driving factors for improving the wellbeing of those struggling by building authentic connection. As a service provider, they work to keep people from homelessness, offer therapeutic alternatives to hospitals, and facilitate community projects and meetings. They are active across South Wales, are an LGBTQ+ friendly charity, and more info can be found at: https://platfform.org

For those who don't know, rugby has been a constant through some really dark times in my life, and that's why I have chosen Platfform for my sponsorship allocation. Throughout the years I have been playing rugby I have made multiple attempts on my life, been involuntarily committed to various in-patient stays, and was prescribed around ten medications to 'deal' with the symptoms of ill mental health that I was experiencing without truly addressing the causes. As I got older, I knew that I needed community and connection-based care and support to be integral to my lifestyle in order for it to be beneficial to my mental health. This is what drew me to living in the valleys where community is the way of life, and it feels very full circle to find an organisation whose ethos aligns with my views.

I do not know where I would be today without rugby and my ever-changing and growing support system.

Your Support Means Everything

So if you don't want to donate because my club is awesome and women's rugby is underfunded and expensive, and if you don't want to donate to support getting the amazing charity Platfform some free advertising, donate because I really love playing rugby with this team and I would really appreciate your support in getting myself to the Premiership through community fundraising.

I know money is tight right now and everything is just so expensive. I know it's 'just the cost of a cup of coffee' and nine times out of ten we would probably rather buy ourselves a coffee (let's be honest!), but if you can spare anything to support me and Ynysddu BG Women – we will go and do our bloody best to win the whole thing again.

Feel free to donate with tasks / challenges in the note that I will complete on camera (where possible, if the challenge is proportional to the donation) to thank you for your support and provide some light entertainment. For example, my colleagues are sponsoring me to be silent for a day in the office (not like I talk a lot anyway) and to not get annoyed when they do really annoying things like leave the door open and put stuff on my desk.

Thank you for reading and for any support you can offer.