Rugby Ride photos ©Press Association
RIDING FOR BRAIN HEALTH A recent cycling event raised over £58,000 for newly formed charity Head for Change – but cycling isn’t just a way to raise money for Alix Popham, the former Welsh rugby international. It’s also part of a daily routine designed to slow his own cognitive decline. He speaks to Kate Cracknell Brain health has hit the news over recent months, with a growing number of former rugby and football players being diagnosed with early onset dementia – the result of countless brain traumas over the years of playing their chosen sport. Former Welsh rugby international Alix Popham is among them. “But rather than dwell on it or feel sorry for myself, I’m trying to be as positive 36
RIDE HIGH May 2021
as possible,” he explains. The result is not only a personal mission to stay as well as he can for as long as he can, but a new charitable foundation – Head for Change – which he launched with his wife Mel in January 2021 and which kicked off with a headline-grabbing fundraiser, the Rugby Ride Challenge, in March. We talk to Popham about his story, his hopes for the foundation, and the recent cycling challenge.
