WEYMOUTH & Portland Rugby Club have raised more than £1,000 for Weldmar Hospice.

Players set themselves the target of collectively running 1,000 miles in aid of Weldmar.

The charity helped care for the late Julian Quick, a popular former Seahorses captain, who died aged 28 in 2017 from Ewing’s Sarcoma.

And club members have risen to the task, running more than 200 miles in excess of their goal.

An initial mark of £1,000 was smashed, with £1,275 raised at the time of writing.

Forward Billy Hayne helped organise the fundraiser, telling Echosport: “It’s something that’s close to our hearts.

“One of our former skippers down here led by example and took the club up a few notches in terms of professionalism.

“It was probably the best era the club had. Unfortunately he passed away with cancer so we wanted to raise some money for a good cause.

“Obviously Weldmar looked after him really well in his last few weeks, it’s a really good cause for us as a club.”

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Dorset Echo: Former Weymouth captain Julian Quick died in 2017 from Ewing's SarcomaFormer Weymouth captain Julian Quick died in 2017 from Ewing's Sarcoma

While the choice of charity was easy, club captain David Oaksford revealed the task of running was anything but.

“It was hard work for a lot of the boys, myself included,” he said.

“It was difficult getting up at 5am some mornings to do 5k before we’ve got anywhere.

“We had a good turnout and we had one lad who weighs 30 stone and he was still going out and putting some miles in.

“We had some other lads that were natural runners and they were doing 10, 15k every day and putting in some extra miles to help out the lads that weren’t doing as well.

“It was a great team performance, effort and spirit.

“Weldmar are really grateful for the support they get financially and the awareness raised through all the Facebook sharing and all the different social media platforms.

“And, all the lads getting involved, talking about it and bringing it into the spotlight.

“It probably helps them more than just from a financial standpoint.”

During the pandemic, charities have been hit by a reduction in donations.

Hayne added: “Charities, out of most sectors, have had the hardest 18 months they’ve ever gone through.

“Again, the cause was close to our heart but to be able to raise money for a local charity after Covid was really good.”

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