Moggy goes the extra mile for statue appeal
ON Sunday, June 26th a large gathering of local people celebrated Stephen “Moggy” Murray’s return to Rochdale in the Hoochi Koochi Bar after his incredible journey up and down the country on a bus to help raise funds for the Jock Mcavoy statue appeal.
During the journey he met up with coaches from boxing gyms such as Currock House ABC and Border City ABC in Carlisle.
Then he met up with another coach from York ABC on day four, before realising that there was a bus strike, so he had to get a train to Doncaster before getting back on two more buses to Lincoln, where he arrived at his accommodation at around 6pm.
Three buses later he arrived in Norwich on day six.
On Sunday day he had to board another train to Colchester because apparently there was no bus service available from Norwich to Colchester on that day. Once he arrived in Colchester it took him four more challenging bus journeys before he finally arrived at his accommodation in Grays.
On day eight he was told that his pensioners’ bus pass was not valid in and around London, so he had to board another train to take him to Tilbury before boarding a ferry to Gravesend, where he got on two more buses to take him to Tunbridge Wells. On day nine the journey took him on another bus to Eastbourne before he travelled by bus to Brighton, where he met up with Steve Martin and some other ex-boxers from their boxing association, who treated him to a great night, whilst also paying for his accommodation that night. Day ten saw “Moggy” climb onto yet another bus which took him to Littlehampton.
Then another one took him to Portsmouth before he arrived in Southampton on the third bus of the day.
Day eleven saw him leave Southampton on four buses to Yeovil, where he spent a tired night before boarding yet another three buses to Stroud, only to learn that the buses to his hotel had been cancelled, so he had to get a taxi to his bed for the night.
Just when he was thinking the journey couldn’t possibly get any worse, he had to board another five buses to Birmingham where he had to board another four buses to take him to his accommodation for the night.
In the morning he was thankful that he only had to board two buses to West Bromwich, but he was told that he couldn’t get into his accommodation until 4pm.
The next day he was told that he couldn’t use his bus pass again until 9.30am so he had to pay for the journey before boarding two more buses to take him to Newcastle Under Lyme where he met some local people in a drinking establishment.
Two more buses took him to Liverpool, where the former WBC welterweight Champion of the World, John H Stracey failed to turn up.
But he contacted Steven Connellan at Hamer Boxing Club to tell him that he was sorry that he could not meet up with “Moggy” that day – he would meet them in Hastings at the ExBoxers Hall of Fame in September this year.
On his last day, Moggy had to board three more buses to arrive in Manchester, where he met some Manchester ex-boxers, before boarding a train back to Rochdale.
During the celebrations at the Hoochi Koochi Bar, an incredibly designed weightlifter and boxer made from scrap metal by local self-taught artist Nick Heywood was auctioned off, with local businessman Craig Stoker paying £220 for the boxer and Kevin Magee paying £200 for the weightlifter.
Then another local resident, Scott Fleming, realised that he had failed in his bid for the weightlifter, so instead he donated the £100 bid to the Jock MCAvoy cause.
The donations didn’t end there because the landlord of the Hoochi Koochi Bar, Jon Dafox Riley, also donated a substantial amount to the cause, along with most of the patrons in the bar, which amounted to a collection of £905.
Hamer Boxing coach Steven Connellan said: “It shows that the local community haven’t forgotten this great boxer of ours.
“I would like to thank our community for coming together and supporting us on our journey to inspire the young people of our town and to tell them you can also achieve your dreams even if you have suffered from mental health issues just like Jock Mcavoy, Moggy and a few more of my friends.”
For donations, details above.
The journey doesn’t end here. The community has set up other future events in and around our town and Ian Gilbertson of Rochdale Sports Club has also kindly set up a Just Giving Page for the cause. see