Latics chairman Frank Rothwell is lending his support to another fundraising mission.
Rothwell, who rowed the Atlantic in February for Alzheimer's Research UK, is helping Oldham RLFC host one of the biggest ever community performance events in the history of either code of rugby, in partnership with the specialist educational events organisation Pro-Excel.
There will be 2,500 children and young people - with 1,000 from Oldham and the surrounding area alongside 1,500 from across the UK - attempting to dance and sing their way into the record books with an official Guinness World Record attempt for the most dancers performing with a singer, ahead of a Roughyeds league game at Boundary Park in May 2025.
Rothwell, who himself beat his own Guinness World Record earlier this year in becoming the oldest man to row solo across the Atlantic, raising a combined total of £1.4million on the back of his first attempt, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for the people of Oldham to put our great town on the map again.
"The Roughyeds and Pro-Excel are planning a production to equal the Super Bowl's half time show and gain a Guinness World Record in the process. The target is to break the world record for the number of backing dancers for a singer.
"Anyone between the ages of nine to 18 from any background can join in. We want as many young people as possible from Oldham to participate and go down in history."
In addition, the event will support the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).
One of Rugby League’s favourite sons, Rob Burrow CBE, died earlier this month, having been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019.
Over the last five years he and his former Leeds Rhinos and England team-mate, Oldham's Kevin Sinfield, have raised over £15 million for Motor Neurone Disease research.
Rothwell added: "I am so proud our stadium can play host to such an inspiring, fantastic and fun event for young people as well as raising funds for two really worthwhile charities.”
Mike Ford, managing director of Oldham RLFC, said: “This club has given so much to so many people over the last century. Chairman Bill Quinn, and I have a vision for the next chapter of this club. We will not only be measured on the impact of success on the field, but in the manner we impact on our community as a whole.
"Elite professional sports have a responsibility to our fans, new and old, to bring joy and make wonderful memories. This project achieves that in spades!
"To see a packed Boundary Park cheering on our team and at the same time providing a spectacle performed by young people, witnessed by their friends, brothers and sisters, grandmothers and grandfathers will be a very proud moment for us all at Oldham RLFC.
"To have the stadium filled with people coming to celebrate the town as a whole not just the rugby, where everyone can be a part of the club even for just a moment will be an achievement in itself.
"We will open up the sport of rugby to everyone in the UK regardless of background, beliefs or upbringing, Oldham RLFC will change the way the sport connects with its towns and take a front footed approach to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where the values of sport can be transcended into daily lives.”
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