Last updated 19:37, Thursday, 15 May 2008

CUMBRIAN Rams, a team for past-their-best rugby union players who still want to play on, has received a prestigious Rugby Football Union award.

PLAYING ON: Gill Burns presents John Cusack and the Cumbrian Rams with their RFU President’s 15 award

The Rams are this year’s winners of the veterans award in the RFU President’s 15 - fifteen awards recognising the best in the sport’s grassroots.

It was handed over at Cockermouth RU club’s Grasmoor Centre on Friday by Gill Burns, president of the women’s section of the RFU and a member of the judging panel.

And she told the assembled Rams: “When I read the citations of the people in for the award I knew right away you were my choice, and I’m glad the rest of the panel agreed with me.”

The Rams, whose players come throughout Cumbria, were formed over 30 years by Cockermouth player John Cusack.

His idea was to give aging players no longer up to first team rugby a chance to keep on playing the game they loved.

Then seven years ago, the Rams realised they could staged games to raise funds for charities and have so far made almost £40,000.

Charities that have so far received Rams cash are West Cumbria Hospice, the Eden Valley Hospice, Cancer Research UIK, British Heart Foundation, the Air Ambulance and others.

The President’s 15 panel included junior vice president John Owen from Shap and England’s most-capped player Jason Leonard.