Big hearted rugger players from Edge Hill joined forces to help tackle the homeless on the streets of Liverpool.

Members of the men’s RU team decided they wanted to try and remove the negative stigma attached to the men’s game - and do something good for the community.

After inviting the rest of the team to participate in the campaign, the committee received such a positive response they approached the women’s team and they got involved too!

The teams worked together to find where the largest homeless population in Liverpool was, to help as many people as possible. They funded the cost of the food and water, and the tasks were split, with the men making sandwiches, and the women making pasta.

“The night itself was certainly an eye opener for all involved,” said Steven Rouke, chairman of the men’s team.

“We met people who’d been on the streets for a few days due to failed mortgage payments and those who have lived a life on the streets, partly through their own admission due to bad decisions and through a vicious life circle.

“It certainly showed all of us involved that it could happen to anyone at any stage, and we shouldn’t take the luxuries we have for granted.

We wanted to do something positive as a group and whatever these people had or hadn’t done in their lives was irrelevant, they were still sleeping on the streets and were worse off than any of us.”

Matthew Greenhalgh, president of the Students’ Union and University Governor, was also involved with the project, and told QLocal on Wednesday afternoon that as a previous chairman of the Men’s RU club, he was incredibly proud of the work being done to improve the club’s impact on local communities, helping and supporting those who are in need.

“The work continues on ambitions I set for the club during my term and it is great to see," he added.

"As President of the Students’ Union, it also honours me to see the work that this club, and other sports teams/societies do to positively engage themselves around the University, Ormskirk, Merseyside and the wider North West area.”