This year sees the start of a new charity partnership for Trauma & Orthopaedics Research Charity, TORC, with local football team, Saintfield United. The coaches and players of the club are keen to help the charity fund vital research to help improve the lives of people living with musculoskeletal injury or disease in Northern Ireland.

The partnership will aim not only to raise funds for TORC but to help equip coaches and players with training and warm-up methods to help prevent injury for youth players. TORC aim to develop this into an injury prevention program for Northern Ireland local sports clubs.

TORC is a small local charity based in Musgrave Park Hospital and they work with a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and research staff to improve the provision of holistic care for all those with musculoskeletal injury or disease in Northern Ireland. The team are continuing their research with patients who have had hip and knee replacements. They are also now working with the orthopaedic trauma teams at the Royal Victoria Hospital on research projects involving patients with a range of fractures.

On the 5th May we will see players and coaches from the football club take part in the Belfast City Marathon 2024 to raise funds and they also have plans to hold a charity football tournament at the end of the year.

Dr Janet Hill, Charity Director and Research Manager, added; “We look forward to kicking off a successful and thriving partnership with Saintfield United. This is the first time we’ve partnered with a football club and we hope it will have mutual benefit with TORC providing performance and injury prevention advice to the club from our clinical experts.”