Former rugby international Alix Popham is latest CamperKing ambassador

Alix Popham, a former Welsh rugby union international, has become the latest high-profile name to sign up as a CamperKing ambassador.

Alix, 43, a father of three from south Wales, joins CamperKing during a busy year in which he will cycle from Cardiff to Edinburgh during the Six Nations tournament and then from London to Lyon later in the year to coincide with the Rugby Union World Cup. A full Ironman triathlon will follow in September before the ultimate effort with two relay teams of ex-rugby professionals, as they aim to swim the Channel in October.

He'll be driving around in a CamperKing Le Mans conversion, with unique colour choices and upholstery chosen during an earlier visit to our Warmington showroom near Banbury.

The former Newport, Llanelli and Leeds player is undertaking the sporting challenges to raise awareness of the work of a charity he founded, Head for Change, which seeks to address the ongoing problem of traumatic brain injury caused by years of head impacts and injuries in sport. Alix himself was diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and early onset dementia in April 2020, attributed to the years of high impact sport he had played. He had been experiencing bouts of memory loss and mood swings before his diagnosis. 

"We love the sports but we want to make them as safe as possible and that's been our mission ever since. There's three key areas, care and support for the family and ex-players, education all the way from grass roots up to the elite game, and research that looks into this problem and how we can make the sports safer.

"We've just got to be honest with the problems that can occur and try to limit them as much as possible."

Alix described why a campervan would be the ideal vehicle to support him through his training and events. He said: "We've got three training weekends leading up to the big swim, which will be hard work but a lot of fun. As part of the training, to get into the events and staying away, I found it hard last year when signed up for different triathlons, so being able to be on site and have the comfort and the extra hour in bed will be much appreciated!

"I'll use it with the family as well, we're already planning different weekends away with some of the amazing coastline we've got around the UK." His efforts this year are also being followed by a crew from Sky Sports who will be producing a documentary about the Channel swim.

Along with his wife, Melanie and Drs Judith Gates and Sally Tucker, he founded Head for Change and is now fighting to challenge the powers-that-be at the highest level in both rugby and football in the UK and campaign for change to how current and ex-professionals receive support if they are suffering symptoms like his. The charity has so far received support from large numbers of professional sports personalities, from both within rugby and football and further afield.

Fortunately Alix is receiving expert treatment for his condition.

We’re delighted to welcome Alix to the CamperKing family as our new ambassador, and can’t wait to assist him in his work across the next 12 months and beyond.

Follow along on Alix's ambassador page to find out more about his events this year and how he gets on.