Blacker Hall Farm supported the Sandal Rugby Club Juniors Festival, which was held on Sunday 12th April, for the 12th consecutive year.

The Wakefield-based farm, retail and events destination supported the festival’s fundraising events after they donated £1,000 worth of barbecue products to the event held at Sandal Rugby Club.

On the support from Blacker Hall Farm, Sandal Rugby Club’s Simon Baxter said: "Blacker Hall Farm’s support of our event catering side sits at the heart of that welcome, with burgers and hotdogs in high demand from players and parents alike.”
“Running a youth section as big as Sandal’s isn’t cheap, and the revenues from the festival barbecues make a huge difference in how we elevate children’s rugby experience at Sandal.”

The volunteer-led festival ran from 10am to the mid-afternoon and saw around 1,000 players and spectators from across the north of England come together to help raise funds for Sandal’s junior section, which supports around 400 children a year.

Blacker Hall Farm was a ‘key contributor’ to the event’s success, as the farm supplied around 500 sausages and burgers for the festival’s barbecue, which is one of the day’s most important fundraising activities.

On the success of the event, Simon Baxter, of Sandal Rugby Club, said: “Our festivals are a key fundraising element for the youth section, allowing us to support winter training facilities for our youth teams.”

“For years the events have pulled teams in from across the region for the quality of rugby available and the warm Sandal welcome.”

Sandal Rugby Club hosts several other major youth festivals each year, with one of the most popular being the Minis Festival, in October, which brings together around 1,200 young players.

All of these festivals mean that Sandal has one of the ‘largest youth rugby festival programmes in the north of England, which together helps to support the club’s youth systems’ training facilities, equipment and coach development.'

On their support of Sandal’s festival programme, Blacker Hall Farm’s sales and marketing manager Tanya Goldthorpe said: “We’re incredibly proud to continue supporting Sandal Rugby Club and its junior festivals, which play such an important role in developing grassroots rugby in the region.”

“Seeing hundreds of young players come together to enjoy the sport, build confidence and develop their skills is exactly the kind of community impact we’re passionate about supporting.”

“We’ve been involved with Sandal for many years, and it’s fantastic to see how the festival continues to grow and provide opportunities for so many children. We’re delighted to play a small part in helping make the day a success.”

The club’s long-standing connection with the farm’s owners, the Garthwaite family, allows the continued partnership between Sandal Rugby Club and Blacker Hall Farm to continue to play a vital role in grassroots rugby.

This also includes enabling the club to continue to deliver high-quality opportunities to young players within their local community of Sandal.