One of Wales' best known rugby faces has backed the Ospreys following the launch of the new 2012/13 charity jersey in aid of Velindre Cancer Centre's Stepping Stones Appeal.
Former British Lion Brynmor Williams, who counts Swansea among his former clubs, is a Patron of Velindre Cancer Centre, who were confirmed as the Ospreys’ chosen charity for the season in July.
The new jersey was launched on Monday, with the aim of raising both awareness of and revenue for charity, and Williams, who is now a respected rugby commentator and pundit, has thanked the Ospreys for their support of the Stepping Stones Appeal.
Speaking today, Williams said:
"As a patron of Velindre I thank the Ospreys for their very much appreciated support of the Stepping Stones Appeal.
“Having their encouragement and help is vital to us. Velindre is a team and we play like a team so having one of the leading regional rugby brands in the world supporting us both on and off the field, is a massive boost to our cause."
Velindre Cancer Centre launched the Stepping Stones Appeal, a lung cancer research programme, to both increase awareness of their work and to raise the money necessary to continue to fund and expand their research programmes.
Following the success of a number of fundraising initiatives including the Captains Climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Mair’s Walk and the Stepping Stones Rugby Gala Dinners, over £350,000 has been invested enabling the Wales Cancer Bank to be able to collect lung cancer samples for the first time ever. These samples will then be used by researchers around the world to improve understanding of lung cancer, which will help in the search for new treatments.
The eye-catching design of the new Kooga manufactured jersey incorporates the green and blue colour scheme of the Stepping Stones logo with traditional Ospreys black, and features the charity’s logo on its left sleeve.
Just 1,000 of the shirts have been produced and it will only be available to buy exclusively from the Ospreys Club Shop at the Liberty Stadium or online at shop.ospreysrugby.com, with a donation from each purchase going straight to Stepping Stones. It will be worn by the Ospreys throughout this season’s LV= Cup campaign, making its debut when the region entertains Gloucester at the Liberty Stadium this Friday evening (KO 7.45pm).