This weekend will see Colne and Nelson Rugby Club tackling for a Guinness World Record and plenty of funds for charity.
A 28-strong team are aiming to hold the longest ever game of touch rugby, come rain or shine, at Holt House on Saturday and Sunday.
The extreme endurance challenge is the brainwave of club members Adam Padgett, Tom Davies and Callum Kinane, who aim to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign by completing a gruelling 32-hour match.
Adam’s brother Ryan (20) was diagnosed with a form of the disorder, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, at just six years old.
Adam (23), a site supervisor at Primet High School, Colne, said: “I am looking forward to seeing just how well we can do. Not many people can say that they have completed a world record in their life.
“It will mean everything for families like mine. If we could pop a genie out of a bottle, it is muscular dystrophy that we would want to stop.
“For every £150 we earn, that goes towards a completely full day of research.”
With the help of friends and the Padgett family, the rugby club is also putting on plenty of activities throughout the fund-raiser to keep the whole family entertained. There will be everything from a bouncy castle to a children’s assault course to a raffle and tombola. Prizes have been donated by a variety of businesses, including the club’s sponsors Cheeky Northern Monkeys.
Charles Horton, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s volunteer fund-raising manager for the North-West, said: “This is going to be an extremely gruelling challenge for all those involved and we feel deeply grateful to the team for taking this on.
“We have set the target of raising £1.6 million by 2015 to back encouraging research being undertaken by leading scientists into therapies to tackle Duchenne muscular dystrophy. With the help of people like the Padgetts, their family, friends and community, we can make sure we keep up the march towards a treatment and campaign now to make sure the NHS is ready to deliver it when it comes.”
Anybody who is able to offer a face-painting service on the day is asked to ring Adam on 07896 023420 or email communitycoach@clubmember.org.
For more information, visit www.justgiving.com/Rugby-World-Record-Attempt-2013