Newsome Panthers player Matteo Zaffino ran 93 miles in a month to raise more than £1,800 for Huddersfield food bank The Welcome Centre.
Zaffino, 25, of Almondbury, completed the 150km challenge in October and the money he raised paid for more than 94 food parcels to help feed people across Kirklees.
Zaffino, who works for KBOP, a homeless prevention social enterprise in Kirklees, believes that this was the right time to raise some funds for a very worthy cause.
He said: “Over the past few years I have raised money through doing Movember but this year I wanted to do something different.
“With the way of the world at the minute and what people are going through with the cost-of-living crisis I just wanted to raise some funds for The Welcome Centre.
“More and more people are having to use food banks, even people who earn a decent wage. I see it in my job how the most vulnerable in society rely on food banks and so this is why I wanted to raise the funds.
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“To raise £1,800 is huge. That pays for 94 food parcels which The Welcome Centre distributes. It is a fantastic amount and I’m incredibly thankful to those who donated to my cause.
“I ran 150k across October and did different amounts each day. I ran along the Brighouse canal and got used to the same route as I went along.
“I enjoyed doing it because it gave me time to think about things. It’s tough out there at the moment and my mental health has been up and down so this hasn’t just helped me physically but mentally too.”
Away from the fundraising, Zaffino played a part in Newsome’s incredible trophy-laden season last campaign with the team winning five trophies.
He said: “We had a great season last year. I joined when Richie Hawkyard took over and since then we have gone on to do great things.
“Last season we proved we can play at a higher level and now we want to show that in the Premier Division if we get promoted to that level.
“I’m enjoying being at the club, as are all the boys. Richie has got it in a good place with others around him and it is a professional set up in an amateur club essentially.”
