Family 'blown away' by support for tractor pull in memory of son

A group of rugby mums said they have been "blown away" by the support they received as they pulled a tractor four miles to raise money in memory of a much-loved junior player.

The event was held in honour of 15-year-old Will Pedley, from Barbon, Cumbria, who died last August.

His mother, Jess, was part of the team who dragged the 1.3 tonne (1300kg) vintage tractor from their village to Will's former club Kirkby Lonsdale Rugby Union Club to raise money for Lancashire based CancerCare.

More than £100,000 has been raised for charity over the past year in Will's name and his father said the support for their latest fundraiser was "overwhelming".

Organiser Becky Gubbins told BBC North West Tonight it had been a "tough" challenge and "emotional at times" but that the group had been "chuffed to bits" to see hundreds of people turn out in support of the challenge, which took three hours to complete.

"The community has really got behind us," she said.

"We're just blown away by the people who put time aside to come and help us."

The Pedleys want to continue raising money to help others.

After the collapse of the suicide prevention charity Papyrus, the family chose to raise funds for CancerCare, another charity Will's father, Richard, said was "close to their heart".

The tractor pull has already exceeded its target of £20,000 for the charity which has centres in Lancaster, Barrow, Kendal and Morecambe and offers counselling to anyone affected by bereavement.

He said: "We chose Papyrus originally for what it stands for, for supporting young people in memory of Will.

"Unfortunately they've gone into administration but CancerCare have offered a lot of bereavement counselling to our family. They've been fantastic."

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