Dalziel Rugby Club fundraising heroes gave a Polished performance on foreign TV!

Did you hear the one about the representatives of a Motherwell-based rugby club who ended up as prime time stars on Polish TV?
Dalziel aces (from left) holding flags are Brian Thompson, Andy McLaren and club captain Ross Mitchell.Dalziel aces (from left) holding flags are Brian Thompson, Andy McLaren and club captain Ross Mitchell.
Dalziel aces (from left) holding flags are Brian Thompson, Andy McLaren and club captain Ross Mitchell.

Well that’s exactly what happened last Thursday night when Dalziel Rugby Club fundraising heroes were interviewed by video link for the show, having raised around £5000 for charities by walking, running, cycling or rowing a combined distance of 7284km.

The Poland link arose as Dalziel – upset at their annual trip to the Warsaw Rugby Festival (May 22 to 24) being cancelled due to coronavirus – initially decided to have members travelling the distance between Motherwell and Poland (2253km) to fundraise for charity.

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That distance was quickly achieved cumulatively by club members aged from P1 to adult players, coaches and parents, so a swift decision was made to keep adding to this total to bump the total going to charities up as much as possible and get around the magic £5000 mark.

One of the Dalziel party to appear on Polish TV, social convenor and third XV player Jamie Muir (45), who cycled or walked a total of 190km, told the Times and Speaker: “We ended up on the Polish national news channel.

“It was a Zoom chat with a Polish reporter, myself, Elaine Neilson (D a l z i e l communications officer), Iain Leyden and Anthony Bogdanovic.

“Iain is originally from the Motherwell area and played for Dalziel before moving over to Poland about 2004 and plays for Warsaw Frogs.

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“He then invited us to play in the Warsaw tournament and we’ve gone every year other than this year.

“Sixteen teams from around the world play in that every year and playing in it was the highlight of my year.

“We have never won the full competition but we won the Plate last year and before that we won the Bowl event two years in a row.

“We were absolutely gutted when it was cancelled.”

But at least a silver lining of the call-off is the fantastic charity fundraising by Dalziel.

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Around £5000 will now be divvied up between Beatson Cancer Charity and Warsaw Frogs & Co chosen charity Prometeusz Dla Seniorów, who provide assistance and advice to the elderly.

“It is absolutely fantastic,” Jamie said. “The club have done over and above what we expected from kids all the way through to senior players and parents. The two charities we are raising money for are delighted, they’re over the moon.”

Jamie said a special mention must go to senior 1st XV player Andy McLaren who cycled over 300km in seven days.

He also revealed that, as a show of gratitude, the CEO of the Polish charity had sent over a 70cl bottle of home brewed vodka to Dalziel Rugby Club.

Donations can still be made to the JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dalziel-to-warsaw

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