Gloucester-Hartpury rename ground after Ed Slater charity to raise awareness of MND

Motor neurone disease is a degenerative condition that affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord, and for which there is no cure.

Billy Twelvetrees, who remains friends with former team-mate Slater and is now a coach at Hartpury, said renaming the ground gives “longevity” to the cause to highlight the impact of MND.

“When I first saw [the sign] I stopped and took a picture and sent it to Ed straight away – he was blown away how big it was,” Twelvetrees said.

“It’s huge to be in support of 4ED because the rugby community has been behind Ed from the very start of his diagnosis.

“To raise awareness, keep raising awareness for MND because at the moment there is no cure, no treatment and no fix for it.

“The bigger picture was for longevity because the fight of MND is finite, time is finite for people with MND so we wanted it to be a long-term thing.”