Bumper Cheque for PRA Benevolent Fund

One of the biggest ever donations was made to the PRA Benevolent Fund as England triumphed over Ireland in the climax to this year's RBS 6 Nations.

A cheque for £40,000 was handed over in The Players' Lounge at Twickenham as part of the pre-match build-up featuring legends of the game Mike Catt and David Humphreys.

The bumper amount - the second largest single donation ever made to the charity - was raised by the York Sportsman's Lunch held last November by Mark Pepper, director of Grosvenor Financial Consultants in York, and Nick Elliot, director of Landmark Development Projects Ltd in Leeds.

Mark said: 'We are great supporters of the PRA and it gives us great pleasure to have been able to raise £40,000 for its charity which does such tremendous work in supporting players.'

PRA Chief Executive Damian Hopley said: 'I would like to thank everyone who supported the York Sportsman's Lunch and helped to raise such a fantastic amount for the PRA Benevolent Fund.

'This donation will go a long way in helping us to support players whose careers on the pitch have finished due to serious injury or illness.'

Fans in The Players' Lounge on Saturday also generated £2,340 for the PRA Benevolent Fund, taking the total amount raised from raffles in The Players' Lounge during the RBS 6 Nations to £6,760.

The sell-out Players' Lounge featured post-match analysis with England players, pictured above left to right, Lee Mears, Richard Wigglesworth, Michael Lipman and Lesley Vainikolo.

The next Players' Lounge will be held during the Investec Challenge in the Autumn when England take on Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. For further information, please contact Laura Murchie at the PRA on 020 8831 7932.