A dose of celebrity kryptonite inspired a record crowd at Jersey
Rugby Club and helped raise a bumper total of cash for one of the
Island's leading good causes.
Superman actor Henry Cavill was at St Peter for the Ipes Siam Cup
earlier this month in his role as Ambassador for the Durrell
Wildlife Conservation Trust - Durrell was the focus of a major
fund-raising day coinciding with the annual contest between Jersey
and Guernsey.
As well as being one of Jersey RFC's best-known supporters,
Henry was announced as Durrell's first-ever Ambassador in 2014,
stepping up to underline his personal enthusiasm for conservation
by agreeing to support the work of Durrell both on his home Island
and globally. He was centre-stage in a busy day that included
charity auctions for items such as exclusive tours of the Durrell
Wildlife Park, signed prints and rare merchandise, a bucket
collection and a chance to satisfy the almost endless demand for
'selfies' from supporters.
In spite of wet weather, the event saw JRFC attract a crowd of
3,100, the highest of the season at St Peter, and raised an
impressive £17,070 to support Durrell's Jersey-based but
global-reaching conservation efforts.
"What a fantastic day," said Jersey RFC Chairman Bill Dempsey. "We
were delighted to see so many people coming up to our final match
of the season and hoped this would lead to some serious money being
raised for Durrell - it's great that the final total was so
high.
"Having Henry coming back to the club was tremendous - he was
certainly in demand throughout the day and was enjoying the chance
to soak up the rugby atmosphere and raise money for a cause that
means a lot to him."
Stephanie Moore from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust added:
"We are so delighted that the Siam Cup was such a great success.
Henry is an incredibly supportive ambassador for Durrell and his
commitment to our organisation is remarkable. An impressive sum of
money was raised on the day, all of which will go towards our
mission of saving species from extinction.
"A huge thank you to everyone for making the day so enjoyable. A
special appreciation also goes to Denis Saout who donated the Man
of Steel poster signed by Amy Adams and Russell Crowe. With Henry's
signature, it proved to be a popular auction lot and fetched
£7,500."
Jersey retained the historic Siam Cup trophy for the seventh
consecutive year; the 48-3 win in the match between the Islands'
first teams was supplemented by wins for Jersey's second team
(48-0) and veterans' side (12-10), although Guernsey came out on
top in the Ladies Siam by 17 points to 7. The match was sponsored
for the second year by Ipes, specialist provider of fund
services to the private equity industry.
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