The Leeds United Foundation hosted an extra special Combat Café session recently with 100 people taking part in a one mile walk around Elland Road.
Members from the Combat Café, which is a weekly programme delivered by the club’s official charity, were joined by staff and volunteers, as together they took part in a mile long walk to try and help raise awareness around a campaign launched by Mind UK.
Mind stared the ‘100 miles in March’ campaign as a national fundraiser, encouraging thousands of incredible Mind supporters to take on 100 miles throughout the month. The Leeds United Foundation decided to put a different spin on the campaign as they wanted to play their part, encouraging 100 people from the Leeds United family to walk one mile together.
Simon Wood, the Health and Wellbeing Lead at the Leeds United Foundation, said: “Today we’re holding our weekly Combat Café which is for servicemen and women, where they can come down to the stadium to socialise, have a cup of tea and breakfast sandwich, play some games and reminisce.
“Our session today was a little different to usual as we took on a 100-mile walk, basically getting 100 people to each walk a mile with us, instead of having one person walking the full 100 miles.
“It was incredible to see the turnout from our veterans and staff from the club and Foundation as they participated together, with us all ending up pitchside for a group photo.”
The Foundation’s Combat Café is currently running every Wednesday at Elland Road from 10.30am, and is available for any servicemen or women, current or former, to take part in. With support from Sporting Force the sessions are key in ensuring ex-servicemen and women still feel part of a community, giving them the chance to talk about the old days, taking part in different activities each week and particularly helping to combat social isolation, with a lot of members currently living by themselves.
If you would like more information about the Combat Café or any of the other health and wellbeing programmes being delivered by the Leeds United Foundation, please contact [email protected].
