Alex "Bosh" Bennett, Lymm's player coach, broke his neck playing in a match against Sandal in February. Alex has had a distinguished rugby career, playing professional rugby for Saracens, Orrell, Llanelli, Brive, London Welsh and Sedgeley Park before a spell at Old Albanians and, latterly, at Lymm. At Saracens he played with RWC winners Michael Lynagh and Francoise Pienaar and was part of the Saracens team that won the predecessor of the Premiership. An uncompromising back row forward (as his nickname would suggest) he also gained representative honours with England A.

Since his injury, Alex has made incredible progress. Although the initial diagnosis was not encouraging through his own determination, the single-mindedness that comes with 18 years of rugby at the highest level, the skills of outstanding surgeons, doctors and physios, the incredible support of the rugby community and, not least, the help that he, his family and Lymm RFC have enjoyed from the RFU Injured Players Foundation and the RPA Benevolent Fund, he has surpassed everyone's expectations. He is now able to walk on crutches and is able to spend the weekends at home with his young family. In May he was awarded the RPA "Blyth Spirit" Award for his "determination in the face of adversity" which he collected at a dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel, London

It was somewhat ironic that two weeks after his injury he was due to be turning out for the England Legends in a match vs Ireland Legends....to raise funds for the RFU Injured Players Foundation - he never thought for one second that he would be calling on their services rather than helping to finance their activities.

As you will see from the attached the England Legends now want to help Alex; and Alex wants to help the charities that have made such a positive impact on his progress over the last 4 months.
So, on 14th July at Lymm RFC there will be a fantastic day of rugby and entertainment all with the aim of raising money for the RFU Injured Players Foundation; the RPA Benevolent Fund; and the Alex Bennett Foundation for Spinal Injuries. The key things to note are:

1. The England Legends have never played outside London before - so this is a unique event to be hosted on our doorstep
2. The match KO at 3:00 will be between the Bosh Legends (captained by Nick Easter) and the England Legends (captained by Martin Corry).
2. In total there will be over 40 ex-England and England A players on show
3. In addition to those listed on the attached poster, other players include British Lions Matt Perry, Ben Kay and Tim Stimpson and England internationals Chris Sheasby, Garath Archer, Leon Lloyd, Jos Baxendell, Mark Mapletoft, and Stu Turner.
4. The match will be supplemented with entertainment to make this a celebration of the great game of rugby.

In the evening there will be a Black Tie dinner in a marquee for 400 people. We would be very pleased to hear from anyone or any company that would be interested in attending and taking a table - again a unique opportunity to dine with such a large group of ex-England and British Lions, and have a fantastic evening - and all in a very good cause too.

If anyone would like further information about any aspects of this event please email Andy Leach at andywleach@aol.com or Paul Maguire at pvmaguire@hotmail.com