Mental Health Charity Founder to Cycle to Local Rugby Clubs
Part of route of Rob Shotton of LooseHeadz's 260km fundraising ride
Rob Shotton pictured hospitalised after breaking his back in 2015
September 17, 2026
The co-founder of a rugby mental health charity is set to cycle more than 260km around London next week – towing a 30-litre water butt behind him – as part of a challenge that will bring him to three rugby clubs in Ealing and Acton.
Rob Shotton, co-founder of LooseHeadz, will undertake the six-day ‘Offload Challenge’, visiting dozens of rugby clubs across London and attempting to score a try at each one.
Among the clubs on his route will be Actonians RFC, Wasps RFC and Ealing Trailfinders, where Shotton will stop as he makes his way around the capital.
The challenge begins at The Alma in Wandsworth on Monday, 21 September, and will finish at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, 26 September, ahead of the England Red Roses’ match against New Zealand’s Black Ferns.
Shotton will cycle between 56 clubs towing a trailer carrying a 30-litre water butt throughout the journey.
At each participating club, some of the water will be poured away, with the aim of arriving at Twickenham with the container empty.
The water represents the unseen burden people can carry when struggling with their mental health. Emptying some of it at every club is intended to symbolise the rugby community sharing that burden rather than leaving individuals to cope with it alone.
Shotton has a personal reason for regarding the cycle as a significant challenge. He has not cycled seriously since breaking his back in a cycling accident 11 years ago.
“The last time I properly got on a bike, I broke my back,” he said. “So, naturally, I have decided to spend six days cycling more than 260 kilometres around London, towing a water butt behind me and trying to score at 60 rugby clubs.
“I am not a cyclist – in fact, I hate bikes – and I know this is going to be a really tough challenge. But it is meant to be difficult, because it represents something that too many people in rugby and beyond know well: carrying a weight on your own for too long.”
The Ealing stops will also feature some familiar names from the area’s rugby history.
Former Wasps players Andy Gomarsall and Fiona Stockley are due to make guest appearances during the challenge, while other former England internationals joining Shotton at different stages include Anthony Watson, Kyran Bracken, Danny Care, Ugo Monye, David Flatman and Topsy Ojo.
The former players will help recreate tries from their own rugby careers at selected clubs along the route.
Shotton said the celebrity involvement was secondary to the wider message of the challenge.
“LooseHeadz exists because people can struggle in silence, often believing they have to deal with everything alone,” he said.
“The water in the butt represents that burden. At every club, we will pour some of it out together.
“By the time we reach Twickenham, I want the butt to be empty because the rugby community has chosen to carry that weight together.”
LooseHeadz was founded in 2017 with the aim of tackling mental-health stigma within rugby. The charity says its objective is to have a mental health champion at every rugby club, providing education, awareness and community support.
It says its network now extends to more than 1,300 clubs across 36 countries.
Anyone wishing to support Rob Shotton and help raise funds for LooseHeadz can donate through the fundraising campaign:
Donate to Rob's Offload Challenge
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