Club engages in 95km scrum for mental health

WEXFORD WANDERERS Rugby Club will swap the playing field for the road this weekend when they take part in the three-day ‘Scrum With Us’ campaign, taking in over 95km, to raise awareness and funds for local mental health groups.

The event, which is being organised by club member Chris Walsh, developed off the back of a talk by members of the Ask campaign, in the club earlier in the year. This subsequently developed into reaching out to the other three rugby clubs in the county and organising similar talks for them.

Chris, a member of Wanderers’ senior team, said the scrum push was an idea he had come up with a few years ago for a different initiatvie but it had never come to pass.

‘ The main thing I want with this is to raise awareness of mental health services and how people can help themselves and others. Any money raised through it will be donated to the local charity, It’s Good To Talk.’

The event takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Starting from Wexford Wanderers’ in Park, the group will push the scrum machine to New Ross Rugby Club. The following day, they will go from Gorey to Enniscorthy, and on Sunday the will complete the trip going from Enniscorthy back to Wexford. Chris hopes to have a squad of 20 people each day who will alternate between walking and pushing.

‘I’ve played on the senior team for the last ten to fifteen years so I’m calling in all favours to get lads involved! A few of the Vixens have also expressed an interest in taking part. They’ll be pushing a modified trailer t hat won’t be overly heavy - you wouldn’t push a real scrum machine the length of the field, never mind 95km!’

He added that, at the moment, the organisers were engaging with Gorey, New Ross and Enniscorthy Rugby Clubs to get players involved in each location.

Wanderers’ chairman Declan Rossiter remarked that one of the main aims of the event was to get the other clubs in the county involved, adding that the club was behind what