Rugby Football Union CEO Bill Sweeney has praised member clubs’ support of their communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Clubs up and down the country have been doing inspirational work alongside and in support of key workers, the NHS, food banks, local charities and vulnerable people,” he said. “They have also been fundraising for the NHS and essential charities in these unprecedented times."
“While sport and sports clubs are suffering during the pandemic, we are all extremely impressed by the efforts being made across the game to support local communities and keep players, young and old, engaged with their clubs during the lockdown.
“The kind of efforts being made by the clubs shows the strength of rugby’s values and the continuing importance of volunteers in the community.”
Island community teamwork
Ramsey Rugby Club in the Isle of Man are big on teamwork and, led by Gareth Hinge and Dave Harding, wanted a team effort to help their local community during the pandemic.
With the help of at least 25 club members, they set up a scheme to assist vulnerable people and self-isolators with a shopping and prescription collection service covering the northern end of the island. A letterbox drop of leaflets provided volunteers’ contact details for people to get help.
The scheme quickly expanded and, linked with the National dairy and local bakery, Ramsey Rugby Club Doorstep Deliveries took off. People placed orders for fresh bread, milk and at one stage hot cross buns to be delivered the next day, seven days a week. There’s no charge for the service and all the orders are at the normal selling price of the goods.
With non-working volunteers covering their own travelling costs, the club asked members for donations and within a couple of days had over £1,000 to help with car running costs and PPE purchasing.
Ramsey then ramped it up again when the local foodbank appealed for help. With many of their volunteers retired people, who were themselves vulnerable, they needed the rugby club to fill the gap. The foodbank was quickly added to the operation and then, when they lacked premises and storage in the north of the island, the club adapted their away changing room adding storage racks and creating a foodbank distribution hub.
Inspired by all the club’s work, one of their young players, nine-year-old Jayden Gaines decided to raise £100 for the foodbank by riding 100 miles on his bike. When he finished his challenge he had raised £2,198.
“What Gareth and Dave started has turned into an amazing example of teamwork right across the club, making a big difference to our local community,” said Ramsey Rugby Club’s Dave Christian. “Jayden’s bike marathon means the foodbank is now well funded too. We are proud to be helping, like so many rugby clubs, during these challenging times.”
Scrubs, grub & medicines
Lewes Rugby Club in Sussex joined forces with the Lewes Coronavirus Volunteers to help with their foodbank collection, as well as starting their own assistance service collecting essentials like groceries and prescriptions led by the men's first team and women's team players.
Their women’s squad members have also been sewing scrubs for frontline workers as part of the local Dolly Scrub Hub which is sending scrubs to the Royal Sussex County and Princess Royal Hospitals, as well as local carers and NHS workers. Creative challenges and Lego projects set by the club are also keeping minis players entertained.
Foodbank services are more important than ever at the moment and the players were glad to help out,” said Lewes RFC Press Officer Dereck Wade. “It’s also good to see our players looking after our local community in the lockdown.
Shaving, cycling & passing
Players at the Newbold on Avon club in Rugby decided to join the ranks of rugby baldies to raise money for the NHS Charities in their Brave the Shave challenge. They set an ambitious £75,000 target and are now at £75,670, with more than 300 club members from minis to first team players losing their hair for the cause.
“We wanted to support the amazing frontline workers who have been looking after us all and decided that shaving our heads was the sort of activity players would support,” said Stuart Houghton. “The locks have fallen and the target has been reached. I’m very proud of everyone who has shaved or donated.
“The shave has included a four-year old boy, a 14-year-old girl and New Zealand born KJ who agreed to shave off dreadlocks he’s had for over 25 years, since he was 18. I’d like to thank all the local rugby clubs who supported us with this great event, the level of support was unreal, we even had people from as far as Australia and Dubai take part.”
Impressive Preston
Preston Grasshoppers was founded in 1869 and their women’s team has decided to complete 1,869 miles of cycling, running and walking by the end of May to raise money for the NHS. One of the team, Victoria Kenyon, said they want to use their Just Giving page to raise more than their initial target of £250 for the Association of NHS Charities.
“It’s important the girls keep active and we thought why not up our speed and time,” said Victoria, aged 20. “Our season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, so it’s important to use the time to help those who need it. People are either running or walking and even using indoor bikes so we aren’t risking anyone’s health.”
Captain, Emma Pooley, added: “We are one team and also a family and we have been keeping in contact and looking out for each other. We have a range of key workers who play for us, from medical students and nurses, to teachers and supermarket workers. We want them to know that we support them and are grateful for all their work.”
The team will be using mobile phone app Strava to track each other’s progress and calculate each mile closer to their goal. To find out more about the fundraiser or to donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hoppers-women
As Captain Tom celebrated his 100th birthday Nottingham Corsairs RFC's U15s, who were inspired by him to help frontline heroes, smashed their target of 100,000 passes for the NHS.
Coach David Hargreaves said: “I should know by now not to underestimate this team - we set the 100,000 passes target to be achieved in 21 days and they, together with parents, brother and sisters, completed the challenge with nine days to spare. It also doesn’t surprise me they wanted to keep going for the full 21 days to see how many passes can be achieved. Most importantly, we have raised more than double our target for the Nottingham Hospitals Charity with more than £3,500 raised against a £1,500 target." https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/zHbiCo2O7cl65Dzi1AELy?domain=justgiving.com
Ashbourne has been connecting with an array of other clubs, spreading a pass the ball challenge around the area to clubs they are closest to in a normal season. With 15 clubs involved, everyone is staying in touch and promoting the stay at home message in support of the NHS. The ball went flying over hedgerows and gardens from Ashbourne to Barton under Needwood, Belper, Burton, Chesterfield, Derby, Eccleshall, Ilkeston, Leek, Matlock, Mold, Newcastle under Lyme, Stafford, Trentham & Uttoxeter.
PPE Production
Nunet, a specialist design, creation and production company called in the help of two Dorset clubs to support the production of Personal Protective Equipment for NHS staff.
Morgan Leadbitter, Managing Director explained: “Like many companies, we saw a reduction of orders as soon as the working from home measures and subsequent stringent social distancing measures were introduced and we had to furlough most of our staff to safeguard their jobs.
“By coincidence on the same day, at the start of April, I was contacted by two different people regarding the production of PPE. We didn’t hesitate to look at what could be done.”
With most of his team furloughed and only Morgan and one other member of staff working to cover operations and sales between them, they looked at the market, the best designs and quickly came up with a prototype for a visor. As an existing supplier to Dorset University NHS Trust they were able to pitch the design and soon sourced the materials, commissioned the tools and started production on their first order of 4000 visors for the Trust.
Morgan turned to friends in the rugby community at Dorset Dockers and East Dorset Rugby Club who volunteered to help with the order. Adhering to strict social distancing measures, the volunteers completed the 4,000-strong order for delivery straight to frontline staff the following week.
Nunet has registered with the Government’s PPE procurement service and opened an online shop for the general public to order directly. Orders come in boxes of 2, 5 or 10 and are available from www.nunetfaceshield.com
Virtual Lunch & Real Help
Farnham Rugby Club raised over £2,000 for the local Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice and the NHS during a virtual sportman’s lunch two-hour webinar for some 200 members and friends. The event stood in for the club’s annual fundraising lunch, which will take place once sport is up and running again.
The highlight was a Q&A with international referees Wayne Barnes, booked for the live event, and Nikki O’Donnell, who lives nearby and is a strong supporter of Farnham’s women’s team. The event included videos of the women’s and men’s sections in action, the latter recapturing the Senior Vase win at HQ in 2017. The fundraising featured an ingenious virtual version of heads and tail and an auction with all prizes donated by local businesses. Previously the club ran a quiz night for 500 of their junior section.
In West London, Richmond Rugby has joined forces with The Dons Local Action Group, the charitable arm of AFC Wimbledon, offering extensive support to the most vulnerable communities in South West London. A Saturday drop off point at the Richmond Athletic Ground from 12 to 4pm has been set up to receive food donations and second hand tech for children who can’t keep up with their learning or stay in touch with their friends.
