SADDLEWORTH is set to play host to a group of walkers on their March of the Day as they raise funds for and awareness of motor neurone disease causes.
Former footballers living with the condition Stephen Darby and Marcus Stewart, who has connections to the area, are leading the trek for the Darby Rimmer Foundation.
Local playing hero Paul Scholes is among those joining a team taking on a 175-mile route from Bradford City’s Valley Parade football ground to Liverpool’s Anfield.
And they will pass through the area on Friday, March 22, with former player Jeff Whitley and Darby’s ex-team-mates Nathan Clarke and Filipe Morais joining in as it passes through Denshaw on the way to Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park stadium.
March of the Day sees a core team of 16 ex-footballers take on a route between Bradford City and Liverpool, the club Stephen Darby was most familiar with and his first, calling at 17 other football grounds along the way.
In total, more than 50 former players will join Stewart and Darby, with the former saying: “It satisfies me that I see people here, that I am part of the process to help people.
“It satisfies me that there is hope for people that can’t be able to walk whether it is they can’t walk or talk.
“I have a voice still and still quite mobile so the message to them is don’t give up and we are trying our best to find a cure. I am part of that and I am not giving up.”
Grasscroft’s Farrar’s Arms pub has a close connection with the event as former Huddersfield Town player Stewart is a some-time customer turned friend.
Owner Rob Norbury is launching a supper club, which £1 from each of four dishes available for £10 sold on Wednesdays and Thursdays donated to the Darby Rimmer Foundation.
After raising £2,000 for the MND Association with his 7 for £7 offer, based on rugby league legend Rob Burrow, who is also living with MND, and the fact Kevin Sinfield started his very first physical challenge from there, this is a continuation of that work.
Rob said: “Marcus comes in the pub and Kev started the runs from here. When we did the idea of the 7 for £7, it was on the back of that.
“Then Marcus – who’s become a close friend – told us he’d got MND.
“With his footballing background, he was put in touch with Stephen Darby, who’d already set up his foundation. He’ s got in with that.
“We said, ‘It’s still a link to motor neurone disease bit it’s a little bit more personal as its someone we’re close to. It would be really good to try and do something.’”
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