North Yorkshire Boarding School Raises £11,636 Towards Rob Burrow Centre for MND Appeal
In June, staff and students from a North Yorkshire Boarding School came together for an epic fundraiser. Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate (QE) raised an epic £11,636 following the news that Rob Burrow CBE had passed away.
Staff and students felt inspired after Kevin Sinfield OBE visited the school 12 months earlier as a keynote speaker at the Collegiate's Annual Speech Day in 2023. Teachers wanted to make a gesture in Rob's honour - and with Leeds Hospitals Charity still needing money to build the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease - it was decided. Rob’s dream was to have a specialist centre for people living with MND and their families to give them the best possible care and support.
Rob Rawlinson and David Payne handing the cheque to Leeds Hospitals Charity at Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate.
7 Laps Between 7 am to 7 pm
Kevin's momentous 7 marathons in 7 days challenge inspired the school community to challenge themselves to run (or walk!) 7 laps of the school AstroTurf.
Entrants paid £7 to enter the challenge or £7 to sponsor someone else. The North Yorkshire boarding school aimed to raise £7,777 but surpassed the target by nearly £4000!
Rob Rawlinson, Head of Sport at QE and a former Leeds Tykes Rugby Union player and coach, trained at Leeds Rugby's Kirkstall training base alongside Rob Burrow and the rest of the Leeds Rhinos. Mr Rawlinson was proud of how the QE community supported such a worthy cause: ‘This fundraiser saw the very best of our #TeamQE community. The way our pupils, parents, staff and extended community pulled together to raise so much money warms my heart. When Kevin Sinfield spoke at last year's Speech Day, he spoke about being kind and helping a friend out in an hour of need. I am proud our community came together and showed what true kindness looks like, I know for a fact that everyone associated with the MND charity, Leeds Rhinos Rugby Club and the Burrow family will be proud of our efforts.’
North Yorkshire Boarding School's Teachers Inspire A Worthy Cause
David Payne, Head of English at Queen Ethelburga’s and a champion of this particular fundraiser, said, "I was lucky enough to return to Yorkshire and rugby league just as Rob Burrow arrived on the scene with that iconic Rhinos squad. A special deal for Leeds primary schools led to me returning to Headingley with my then ten-year old daughter, she loved it and season tickets followed. It wasn’t always glorious, we took some beatings but you knew if Rob got the ball – beep, beep, there’s some magic in the air. He gave us all so much, especially his courage in fighting this dreadful disease. I'm so proud that everyone at the school pulled together to achieve our target.’
Paul Watkins, Director of Fundraising at Leeds Hospitals Charity said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to the pupils, parents, and staff at Queen Ethelburga’s who came together to fundraise for our Rob Burrow Centre for MND Appeal. It’s thanks to commendable fundraising efforts like theirs, that together, we’re even closer to reaching our target to build a specialist MND centre in Rob’s name.”
Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate is an independent boarding school for children ages 3 months to 19 years. If you are interested in visiting the school, please contact Admissions via the Contact Us page.
