TEDFEST 2019

TedFest 2019, the idea of the Family of Ted Ellard, a young boy who sadly lost his life in June 2018 to an extremely rare heart condition, has been dubbed a huge success after raising over £2,200 for Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice; with hundreds of people flocking to the village Rugby club to support it.

Zoë’s Place is a charity that specialises in caring for babies with life limiting and life-threatening conditions. Not only do they care for the children and babies, but they help their families come to terms with their conditions and in some cases help them start to come to terms with the loss of their child. The charity has continued to support Ted’s family in the days and months following the passing of their boy and in return they have vowed to raise as much money and support the charity as much as they possibly can.

Natalie and Kev Ellard said, “Zoe’s place gave us more than anyone could, they enabled us to stay with our son, Ted, after he passed away, which meant we never had to part from him until we said our final goodbyes. What Zoe’s Place offer is absolutely amazing and we will be forever grateful to them. What they gave to us was invaluable.”

Saturday’s event saw amateur rugby players from different rugby clubs all over the county join together along with friends and family of Ted Ellard, some of who had never played rugby before, and put on a thrilling match as Superted’s Select XV took on Harbury Villains. The match, designed to be a fun run out, turned out to be just that, with both team’s enjoying a laugh and some fun through-out whilst entertaining the crowd at Waterloo Fields. Superted’s Select XV emerged victorious with a 22-12 win!

As well as the thrilling match, Ted’s Family and army of volunteers, along with the support of Harbury RFC, put on a great day at the club. The huge raffle, cake sale, face-painting from Paint-A-Party Face painting, indoor and outdoor games followed by children’s disco from A-Class Entertainments and a party into the evening provided fun for all of the family.

Matthew Knight Harbury RFC Chairman said, “The club was honoured to help out a lovely family and such a worthwhile charity, in fact we jumped at the chance. We were so pleased with the turn out despite the extreme weather conditions. The game of rugby had flashes of brilliance from seasoned players, but also complete beginners. The main highlight being Kev Ellard, scoring a 60 metre wonder try in the final seconds of the game. We can’t wait for TedFest 2020 next year!”