Rugby charity Hearts & Balls has appointed Graham Fisken, a Senior Associate at Edinburgh legal firm Turcan Connell to the Board of Trustees as they continue to build on the foundations and expand the reach of the charity. 

Hearts & Balls Charitable Trust was established in 1999 when a player from Lismore Rugby Club, Edinburgh, suffered a serious spinal injury that left him paralysed. Having run a highly successful appeal, Lismore decided to widen its support to cover other players impacted by serious injury or illness. Thus, Hearts + Balls came into being with the aim of ‘helping rugby help its own’.

 Since its beginnings in 1999, they have donated in the region of £700,000 to rugby players and their families. Through advice and advocacy, they also help them identify and apply for funds from other sources.

Graham Fisken is a Chartered Tax Advisor and provides advice on tax and succession planning, trust law and partnership law. Keen to bring both his rugby and legal knowledge to the table. He represented Scotland in the HSBC World 7’s 2010-2014 and also Scotland under-19’s.

 Graham Fisken said: “By joining the Hearts + Balls board I hope to give something back to the game which has benefitted me so much.”

 Chair of Hearts & Balls Board, Hugh Dan MacLennan added: “As someone with such a breadth of understanding across both the rugby and legal fields, his experience will undoubtedly bolster our efforts as we look to build on the assistance we can offer in helping rugby to help its own.” 

Graham Fisken
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