Birmingham dealership donates car to England Deaf Rugby Union

Lookers Vauxhall helps solve mobility problems for rugby administrators.

Lookers Vauxhall in Star City has helped tackle a charity’s transport challenges, by donating a vehicle to England Deaf Rugby Union.

Set up to enable deaf and hard of hearing people to get together and enjoy rugby union without communication barriers, the EDRU delivers coaching sessions to its male and female squads, as well as hosting sessions for Deaf children across the UK.

Facing the growing challenges of transporting players, volunteers and equipment around the country to various events, Lookers Vauxhall was delighted to be able to offer its own unique donation to support the charity after working with them for the past six months; a Vauxhall Mokka.

The use of the branded vehicle has been given to head coach, Sean Fletcher, helping to not only overcome some of the hurdles of on the road activity, but also helping to raise awareness of the charity’s work. Featuring the charity’s social media handles and the #SilentRugby hashtag, the striking design has already attracted new followers following road trips and public events where the vehicle has been displayed.

Specially identified by the Lookers team to meet the EDRU’s needs, the spacious Mokka offers a dynamic and versatile design, combining the power of an SUV into a more compact style.

Alan Collins, general manager at Lookers Vauxhall Birmingham, said: “I’m passionate about rugby and helping to support charities, so being able to combine the two and help the EDRU is fantastic. We specialise in delivering excellent advice on the best Vauxhall cars to meet our customers’ requirements, so after learning about Sean’s struggles with transporting equipment and players across the country, it was a no-brainer to get involved.

“It’s been fantastic to see the impact that the car donation has had to the charity already. I hope this is the start of a hugely successful partnership and look forward to working closely with EDRU in the future.”

Sean Fletcher, head coach at England Deaf Rugby Union, added: “Alan and the Lookers Birmingham team have been amazing supporters of our work as a charity, so when they suggested donating one of their vehicles to help us deliver what we do, we were overwhelmed. It has made such a difference to our operations and we’ve already seen an increase in awareness of our charity, so we’re incredibly grateful to Lookers Vauxhall Birmingham for their generous donation.”