AFC Rushden & Diamonds are delighted to announce that we have selected the Motor Neurone Disease Association groups from Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire as our charity partners for the 2024-25 season, in association with Main Club Sponsors Rebel Energy.
Last season Rebel Energy donated 10p for every supporter that passed through the turnstiles at Hayden Road on AFC Rushden & Diamonds matchdays, raising very close to £1,000 for local charity Oakfield Community, who we continue to enjoy a strong relationship with this year. The exact same terms will apply this season, with Rebel Energy donating 10p per person for every attendee at our home matches, paid into a pot that will be separated equally between the Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire branches of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, as requested by Diamonds supporter and former Board Member Jim Playle.
Many Diamonds fans will have learned about Jim’s journey with Motor Neurone Disease, supporting his wife Karen following her diagnosis in August 2023. We have shared details of their story this week, here:
https://www.afcdiamonds.com/our-mnd-journey/
As long-term, well-known and much-loved supporters of the Club, Jim and Karen’s story has been both inspiring and heartbreaking, with many hours spent wondering how we can support them both. When we raised this with Rebel Energy as a proposal for our charity partnership this year, they were delighted to support.
Neil Corbyn from Rebel Energy had this to say: “Rebel Energy are delighted to once again be able to support the local community through the Hayden Road attendance charity scheme. Having learned about Karen and Jim’s situation and the wider publicity around MND, we jumped at the chance to support the local MND Associations. The strength that Karen and Jim are showing is truly remarkable and the work done by the MND charities is clearly invaluable to those in need of support. We therefore encourage all fans to get down to Hayden Road to support the team, raise vital funds for the MND charities and also show our support for Karen and Jim.”
AFC Rushden & Diamonds Vice Chairman Alex Raspin commented: “Firstly, I’d like to thank Rebel Energy for extending the charity partnership scheme into its second year. The relationship we built with Oakfield Community, inclusive of our visits there to learn about what they do, has probably been one of my highlights since I joined the Board of Directors at our Club and I look forward to building a similarly positive relationship with the MND Association this year. It is hard to read Jim’s story without feeling emotional but when you know the person or the people involved in these situations it really hits home. I know Rob and I have been racking our brains to think how we can support Jim, besides hopefully continuing to provide him with something enjoyable to take his mind off things every second Saturday. This charity partnership provides us with the perfect opportunity to support a cause close to Jim’s heart not just now, but for the rest of the year and hopefully beyond.”
Rebel Energy have made an initial donation of £153.40 to cover the donation for the matches against Lye Town, Anstey Nomads, Loughborough Students and Grantham Town directly to the Just Giving page set up to support this weekend’s Matchday Collection at Hayden Road:
https://justgiving.com/page/rushdendiamondsafc-1725306979192
