Sportsman Keith Senior joins Catherine Tate as Patron of youth cancer charity

Keith follows in the footsteps of Jack Dee and Zoe Lucker and joins Catherine Tate as Patron of The Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust.

Keith Senior first became involved with the work of The Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust in 2010 whilst playing for Leeds Rhinos. Since joining The LCYCT team in 2010, Keith has attended events on behalf of the charity including fundraising and corporate events and has used his influence to attract additional support to the charity; raising thousands of pounds for the fight against cancer in young people. Keith has also joined the team with visits to hospitals to meet young cancer patients.

Star of Rugby League Keith Senior is originally from Huddersfield where the LCYCT is based. He started his career at Sheffield Eagles in 1994 moving to Leeds Rhinos in 1999 where his name became synonymous with the club and where he held the record for the most Super League appearances & the record for the most Super League tries until 2012. Keith represented both England and Great Britain in Rugby League and despite retiring from the game as a player in 2011, his remains one of the most iconic names of the sport.

Since retiring as a player, Keith’s involvement with the charity has increased and he has taken on a number of high profile challenges for the charity, most remarkably running four Marathons in four corners of the UK over four consecutive weekends during his M4R4THON Challenge in 2014 and most recently launching the #GettingToughOnCancer campaign with charity Ambassador and amputee Sarah Dransfield.

“Keith has covered hundreds of miles for The LCYCT on foot, on bike wheels and even paddled. From the very early stages of his support, Keith has been able to highlight the need for the work of The LCYCT and has helped raise the profile of the charity. We were thrilled when Keith informed us that he would be taking on the Virgin Money London Marathon and raising money for the charity for the third consecutive year. As a Yorkshire based charity, we are very proud of our association with a true legend of Rugby League and could only be more proud if Keith took on this year’s London Marathon as the charity’s Patron, which he has graciously agreed to do.” Rob Hoult, Chair of Trustees.

The 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon takes place on 23 April and Keith hopes to beat his previous PB of 4 hours and 14 minutes.

Keith Senior comments: “I was asked by the charity to consider becoming their Patron at the beginning of the year and was happy to accept. I enjoy challenging myself physically and my work with the charity can be challenging in other ways, as ultimately we are supporting young people who through no fault of their own are dealing with the horrors of cancer.”

To celebrate the announcement of their new Patron and his participation in the London Marathon, the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust are offering five limited places in their Patron’s Challenge – following in the footsteps of Keith Senior and participating in the London 10,000 on 29^th May.

Registration is £10 and participants must raise a minimum of £100 in sponsorship. Each participant will receive a personalised letter of thanks from the charity’s Patron Keith Senior and will have the opportunity to be photographed with Keith. For more information about The Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust or the Patron’s Challenge please contact the charity team on 01484 510013 or email hello@lauracranetrust.org