Barry Macklestons Bus Pass Challenge

Hi, my name is Barry Mackleston and I am the current Club Secretary at Wythenshawe Community Rugby Club.

This year I have decided to undertake the Bus Pass Challenge in order to raise awareness and some much needed funds for our Rugby Club.

I am a 71 year old amputee who along with volunteering my time with the local Rugby Club also work along with Wythenshawe Community Housing Group in order to help my local community. I have a deep passion for Rugby and have done since I was a child playing in my younger days for Glossop and now sit in a senior role at my local Club, I am a season ticket holder at Sale Sharks and follow them home and away.

Enough about me, here comes the important part, Wythenshawe Rugby Club are a fairly new Rugby club in the grand scheme of things and will be celebrating their 10TH year this year, our home ground is Painswick Park which many of us know.

What many people still do not know is that Wythenshawe Rugby Club is based there, we have a number of groups who actively train there with children as young as 3 years upwards to senior colt level as well as our very own senior men’s team.

Training these individuals and teams comes with the need for certain equipment which in turn comes at cost and as we are a community based sports club we have to rely on help from the good people within our community as well as our club members.

At this time we have access to a severely dilapidated changing facility which currently we can not allow the children to use due to the floor falling through in a number of places due to faulty plumbing leaking over the years before we took control. This in turn gives access to rodents as it isn’t secure.

The showers need replacing as the pressure is not there for hygienic cleansing and the extractor fans and heating elements do not work due to ageing electrics so in the winter time its severely cold within the changing area.

We took control of this building when our club moved to Painswick Park just after the Covid Pandemic but it appears that all cries for help regarding this structure has fallen on deaf ears with the local authorities and we must now deal with it ourselves.

My aim is to attempt the Bus Pass Challenge which will take me from Manchester all the way to Twickenham in time for the England V’s Italy 6 Nations international on 9TH March 2025 using only my bus pass until the very latter of the challenge where no busses run and I will use the train system for the final stop or two.

I will leave Painswick Park at 9:30am on Friday 7Th march and head to Manchester Airport where I will board the bus and begin a 2 day journey taking in Buxton, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Northampton on day one with the hope of attending Leicester and Northampton Rugby Clubs during this part of the journey.

Day 2 will begin in Northampton and see me travelling via Milton Keynes, Luton, Watford, London Central, Hammersmith and finally Witton Road for Twickenham stadium.

If all goes well and according to plan and my challenge is successful this will get me to Twickenham in time to be greeted by the England internationals before the game commences.

My journey will be documented on my you tube channel so you can monitor my progress.

Please Please give what you can.

Your donations would be very much appreciated and will not go unnoticed.

Bus companies used are :

Trentbarton

Stagecoach

First Bus

Arriva

The below images show the current condition of the clubs changing facility, unfortunately we can not allow the children of the club to use these facilities due to them being in such dangerous condition, we are hoping to raise funds to rectify these conditions ourselves as those that maintain the building have chosen to ignore the issue.

Also Wythenshawe community rugby club would like to extend its sincerest gratitude to Elliot’s Car and Van hire of Cheetham Hill for supplying Club Secretary Barry’s Support vehicle to assist in his Bus Pass challenge to Twickenham.