“Never been busier, never been more productive.”

That’s the uplifting message for Rugby League enthusiasts in south Leeds from Mikey Nuttall, who has been at the helm as general manager of the Hunslet Foundation for the best part of a decade.

While last month’s high-profile summer festival, which was run in conjunction with Luke Gale’s `Kicking for Grassroots’ project – and which was attended by nearly 60 teams from around the north of England – remains fresh in the memory, a wide range of other initiatives by the Hunslet Rugby Foundation have taken place in 2023 which are also likely to also have a lasting impact.

Nuttall and his colleagues arranged four different activities during the recent summer holidays for children and young people aged between five and 21, while the `Active Communities’ clubs (social gatherings for everyone in the area at the Belle Isle Welcome Centre, St John & St Barnabas Church, LS10 3DN) take place on Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons.

Spectators who have delighted in Hunslet’s unbeaten record at the South Leeds Stadium in this year’s Betfred League 1 campaign have invariably been able to enjoy curtain-raisers involving local junior teams, while Foundation staff led by Nuttall have been heavily involved in taster sessions at such as East Leeds, Hunslet ARLFC and Shaw Cross Sharks. And time has also been found to run similar sessions each and every Saturday at Brickfield Park, Beeston.

An understandably elated Nuttall enthuses: “It has been a very active summer, and very positive, in fact it’s been the busiest summer we’ve had in the eight years I’ve been here. And we are intent on maintaining that momentum next year and beyond!”