The Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association have been announced as the official charity partner of the GMA’s Industry Awards 2023.

The MND Association funds research, improves care and provides support for people with MND as well as their families and carers. With more than 5,000 people living with the disease across the UK, for which there is no cure, the work conducted by the MND Association is crucial in fundraising to support them.

With the Industry Awards ceremony being hosted at Headingley Stadium this year, the GMA say they are keen to support a charity close to the hearts of many sporting figures, especially those whose careers have been spent at the stadium.

In 2019, it was announced that Leeds Rhinos legend Rob Burrow MBE had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease and since then himself and teammate Kevin Sinfield OBE have been campaigning for support, with Kevin taking on a range of challenges in order to raise funds for the MND Association.

A spokesperson for Headingley Stadium said, “We are delighted that the GMA Industry Awards ceremony will be held at recently refurbished Headingley Stadium for the first time this year and are even more thrilled to learn that the GMA will be supporting the MND Association.

"Headingley Stadium has been home to players who have been personally affected by the disease and as a result, have seen firsthand the incredible work that the charity do”.

Kevin Sinfield OBE, England Rugby Union coach and patron of the MND Association said, “I’m very grateful that MND Association has been chosen as the charity partner for the GMA’s Industry Awards at Headingley Stadium. For a long time now, MND Association has been hugely important to me not only as Patron but also in supporting close friends and many others who have faced a diagnosis.

“It’s crucially important we all continue to bang the drum together to fight MND and take us closer to a cure for this cruel disease.”