Congratulations to Sandbach’s Mike Grapes, who was nominated for ‘The LooseHead of the Year’ in the LooseHeadz Community Awards 2025.
The awards, organised by rugby mental health charity LooseHeadz, took place on Thursday 9th October in London.

LooseHeadz aim to place a mental health lead in every rugby club around the world and help to tackle the stigma around mental health. They have over 1200 clubs in twenty-eight different countries signed up and are building a community, united around a shared mission, to help turn the tide against poor mental health.

Mike, a Sandbach player, an Under 12s coach and a sponsor for the Under 12s team through his business Mike Grapes Building Services, was instrumental in setting up the now annual fixture between Sandbach and LooseHeadz. The first fixture took place in August 2024 and the second was held this summer.

After the inaugural ‘Bradley Peace Memorial Cup’ between Sandbach and LooseHeadz, Mike said that he planned to “build on the momentum” of the fixture and he did that by arranging a special family friendly day. It included two rugby matches, bouncy castles and hospitality, with a focus on the amazing work that LooseHeadz do to tackle mental health in rugby.

This year’s event kicked off with Sandbach Sabres taking on LooseHeadz Women XV. Following the women’s match was the Bradley Peace Memorial Cup match between Sandbach Social XV and LooseHeadz XV. Together the teams raised an incredible £2,538 for LooseHeadz to help them continue their vital work.

The ‘Bradley Peace Memorial Cup’ is named in memory of Mike’s brother Bradley, who tragically took his own life two years ago.

Discussing his involvement with LooseHeadz, Mike said: “My brother was twenty-seven when he took his own life. Once the lads found out, the support was overwhelming and really helped me mentally. I wanted to take something positive from such a tough situation, and linking up with LooseHeadz has been incredible. It’s helped spread the message that there’s always a better option and made sure every player at Sandbach knows they’re never alone, all the while keeping my brother’s memory alive.”

Sandbach Rugby Club extend their heartfelt congratulations to Mike on his well-deserved nomination and thank him for all his hard work and perseverance in promoting mental health awareness throughout the club.

Paul Jackson, Sandbach’s chairman, shared his congratulations to Mike. He said: “At Sandbach we aim to support rugby at all levels and those that are part of the rugby family. It’s fantastic to see one of our own nominated for his efforts to go above and beyond to help others and sets an example to us all. Congratulations on your nomination from the club."

Commenting on the nomination, Sandbach’s director of rugby Andrew Bird said: “We are delighted to see the recognition nationally for Mike's continuous work towards raising the profile of mental health within our game. We are firm believers at Sandbach that 'better people are better players' and this is real life example of this belief. Well done Mike for being nominated, we are super proud of you and all you do for Sandbach RUFC.”

Announcing the awards, LooseHeadz said: “We’re excited to reveal the nominees for our first ever LooseHeadz Community Awards. An evening dedicated to celebrating our journey to date, but more importantly, the unsung community heroes of rugby and the people who make our game (and our charity) so unique.”

Mike was pipped to the award of LooseHead of the Year on the night by Jonny Cartwright, aka @the_bald_ref on Instagram. Johnny is part of MADREFS, the Manchester & District Rugby Union Referees’ Society and Lymm RFC. He helped to officiate a joint training session between Sandbach and Stoke RUFC in the summer. Jonny was one of the referees involved in the “Longest Game” in June. This world record breaking game was organised by LooseHeadz and Wooden Spoon, raising money for both charities.

To support LooseHeadz or for more information, visit https://looseheadz.co.uk/ and follow #TackleTheStigma.

LooseHeadz Community Awards 2025
Four awards were presented on the night:
LooseHead of the Year Award
Youth Champion Award
Rugbyness Award
Heart of the Club Award

Nominations for ‘The LooseHead of the Year’
Rachel Massey (Chester)
Jonny Cartwright (MAD Refs)
Bryan Pitman (Brixham)
Paul Gibbon (Sale FC)
Emma Finch (Sidmouth)
Mike Grapes (Sandbach RUFC)
Connor Ryan (Trafford MV)
Jen Skingsley (Colchester Kings / Thunder)

Winner - Jonny Cartwright (MAD Refs)