Some of the biggest names in international rugby joined around 2,000 attendees at Crawley RFC’s Inaugural Charity Rugby Festival and Family Fun Day held at Willoughby Fields on 4th June.

The day opened with a training academy hosted by Harlequins Rugby Club for 500 lucky children representing a number of clubs from around the local area. However, the main event for the spectators was an ‘England vs The Rest of the World’ charity rugby match played by a host of ex-internationals.

Players on England Legends team included former internationals Alex King, Garath Archer, Dan Scarborough, Kevin Yates and Henry Paul, while the Rest of the World Legends featured All Black legends Ali Williams, Carl Hayman and Anton Oliver. The game ended in a convincing win for England but the main winners on the day were undoubtedly the rugby fans and the charities the day was supporting.

Thanks to the generosity of those who attended over £30,000 will be distributed via The Oliver’s Wish Foundation to The Lullaby Trust, Sparks and Chestnut Tree Children's Hospice in Sussex.

As Rob Dowling, the founder of the Oliver’s Wish foundation said “We always hoped that this event would be a happy day and a fitting tribute to the short but wonderful life of our son Oliver. The atmosphere on the day was incredible and we were blown away with the generosity of spirit from all those that attended. We were delighted that the event was such a great success but this was only possible through the hard work of many people. It will be a day that will live long in the memory and for that we will be eternally grateful to Crawley RFC, Harlequins RFC, the players, volunteers and members of the public that came and supported the event."

While Mark Rodwell, chair of the CRFC organising committee added “It was a privilege to be asked by Rob to help organise this event and obviously the club is very pleased the event went so well for the charities. It was great to see so many smiling faces around the pitch as well as some class rugby being played upon it. My thanks to all the marshals and volunteers that gave their time for free to ensure the day was such a success. The club has now proved to ourselves we can hold events of this magnitude and look forward to welcoming more guests to future events. ”