Leeds: Demolition work to begin at MND centre site

Demolition work begins at the preferred site for The Rob Burrow Centre for MND a week after Kevin Sinfield raised £1.5m for MND charities

Work to create the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is set to begin later in Leeds.

The former Leeds Rhinos scrum-half was diagnosed with the condition in 2019 after he retired from the game.

He has since spearheaded a £5m appeal to build a new MND centre at Seacroft Hospital.

Burrow said the centre was "beginning to become a reality and not just a pipe-dream" thanks to the money raised in his name.

Rob's wife Lindsey said the vision for the centre was "somewhere that's not like a hospital setting, it's quite home from home like" adding the family wanted it to be child-friendly and relaxing.

Although all the funds for the centre have not yet been raised work to clear the preferred site for the centre would begin, Leeds Hospitals Charity said.

Rob and Lindsey Burrow, together with Rob's parents Geoff and Irene, clinical staff, and several charity funders, would be present to mark the moment the enabling works began at Seacroft, Leeds Hospital Charities said

The work begins less than a week after Burrow's former teammate Kevin Sinfield completed seven ultra marathons in seven days, raising £1.5m for MND charities in the process, with some of the funds going towards the new MND centre.

A spokesperson for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said during the summer, Rob Burrow and his family, together with Kevin Sinfield, had visited a number of different hospital Trust locations "to see if they had a preference".

The spokesperson added: "It's less of a hospital site and has more space and natural elements to it and it's also where the current MND clinics are held."

Kevin Sinfield complete a 300-mile (482km) fundraising run on 19 November at Old Trafford

CEO of Leeds Hospitals Charity Esther Wakeman, said: "We're hugely grateful to everyone who supported Kevin Sinfield on his Ultra Challenge last week and we are now £1m closer to our fundraising target. This is an incredible effort, however, we've still got a way to go."

She said the site at Seacroft Hospital was the preferred location for the centre but "we still need to raise all of the money before this specialist centre can become a reality".

Leeds Hospitals Charity said it hoped thanks to donations, the centre would transform the hospital experience for people with MND, their loved ones, and those caring for them. "The current fundraising total sits at over £3m," it added.

Esther Wakeman, said: "If anyone has been inspired by Kevin Sinfield's recent efforts, there's still time to run the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon or Half Marathon next May and raise funds directly for the centre."