In the days leading up to Christmas, our Cardiff Rugby Community Foundation was proud to partner with the Everyone Deserves a Christmas charity to support families and individuals across South Wales during the festive period. 

Through supporting the initiative, community staff, players, and volunteers worked side by side with Alex Barros-Curtis, MP for Cardiff West, who lent his support by joining in packing, loading and delivering hampers across his constituency.

On Monday 22nd December, the entire community team came together at Merthyr Town Football Club, where an incredible 410 Christmas hampers were packed. 

From these, 200 hampers were delivered by the Foundation to Children & Family Centres across Merthyr, Penywaun, Cwmbach and Aberaman, ensuring vital support reached families who needed it most.

Speaking about the importance of the initiative, Community Director, Nadine Griffiths said:

“For us it is important to remember we are more than just sport. We live the values that sport gives us, especially family. 

“We are proud to do our bit to support families throughout our communities, especially during the festive period where financial pressures are even higher. 

“At the heart of all we do in the Foundation is our community, and by partnering with the Everyone Deserves a Christmas Charity we can help spread some much-needed Christmas cheer.”

Earlier that day, Nadine and Jamie Muir (Interim Managing Director ) also volunteered at the Swansea packing centre, where a remarkable 2,000 hampers were prepared as part of this year’s campaign — a testament to the scale and reach of the initiative.

On Tuesday 23rd December, additional hampers were collected and transported to the Arms Park, where players assisted in distributing them throughout local communities. 

In total, 70 hampers were hand-delivered across Cardiff, Ely, Canton, Cardiff Bay, Fairwater and Pentrebane. The deliveries were carried out by George Nott, Will Davies-King, Lucas de la Rua, Elijah Evans and Evan Rees, whose time and commitment helped ensure families received support directly. 

Cardiff Rugby’s support also reached Tŷ Hafan, with 20 hampers and selection boxes delivered to the hospice just after another visit in which Leigh Halfpenny, Mason Grady, Theo Cabango, Evan Lloyd and Jacob Beetham took part in the annual Carol Concert.

The gesture was aimed to help relieve some of the pressure on parents during a profoundly challenging time, while making sure every patient received a gift to enjoy over the festive period.

A special thank you goes to David Spears, whose van proved essential in supporting the transportation and delivery of hampers across multiple locations, helping the team reach as many communities as possible.