11 CB Send Out - 14 March 2008

RFF

Here are the latest Rugby Football Foundation awards (MS Word DOC 328 kB) with a guidance note and application update (MS Word DOC 319 kB).

Experimental Law Variations (ELVs)

Feedback is sought from the whole game on the ELVs and, in particular, the effect implementation might have on the Community Game. Details of the ELVs with video clips and a Forum to enable you to comment, can be accessed.

Game Information

(From Nick Bunting)

Information on the health of the game will be circulated to all CBs on a more regular basis than previously. A standard template of the information contained in RugbyFirst on all clubs and CBs has been produced to enable ease of comparison. This template has been developed through consultation following the recent Roadshows by the Chairman, CEO and Community Rugby Director. The template will show what current information is contained in RugbyFirst, recognising that there remains some data validation to undertake.

Where CBs are undertaking annual club visits, this information should be used as the starting point for discussions with clubs. CBs are requested to assist/advise clubs to update their membership and club details on RugbyFirst. Contact details are used in the RFU Yearbook and Handbook. Membership details are aggregated at CB and Government Region level for Government funding applications such as Community Club Development Programme and National Sports Foundation. 

It is also important for clubs to keep their junior and youth membership up to date in order to comply with child protection guidelines and CRB checking of volunteers, coaches and others who interact with young people. This is especially relevant with the new Protecting Vulnerable People Legislation due to be enacted in the Autumn. Below are two examples of data, one at CB level showing the information summarised by CB and one which shows an individual club.

These will be sent out by Susan Leighton on the following basis: CB summaries=monthly; Club summary=quarterly. These will be sent to the Honorary Secretary of the CB. If you have any feedback please direct this to susanleighton@rfu.com who will be happy to assist you.
Examples: Somerset (PDF 19 kB), Blandford (PDF 25 kB).

Play On Competitions

As you know, CBs have been invited to a series of workshops to help support the planning of competitions for your Play On campaign. The meetings are scheduled for 6.45 pm (7 pm start) through to 10 pm approx on the following dates:

Wednesday 5 March	Broadstreet RFC
Monday 10 March	Twickenham
Wednesday 26 March	Herts University (TBC)
Thursday 3 April	Preston Grasshoppers RFC
Monday 7 April	Exeter Chiefs RFC*
Wednesday 9 April	Mansfield RFC
Monday 14 April	Newbury RFC
Monday 21 April	Morley RFC
Monday 28 April	Percy Park RFC

*Please note the merger of the meetings previously scheduled for Bridgwater & Albion RFC (19 March) and Plymouth RFC (7 April).
If you need further information please contact [beverleycollier@rfu.com].

RFU Yearbook 

Preparatory work has begun on the next edition of the RFU Yearbook. We are looking for input to help produce a more user friendly publication. What do you mainly use the book for? Is there any information you would like to see included in it? Is there any information in it that you feel is not relevant? Please email your feedback to [bethanpalmer@rfu.com].

We will shortly be contacting all clubs requesting updated information about the club, and more importantly, individuals with whom the RFU has frequent contact throughout the season - those who hold 'golden roles'. This will be in the form of a paper questionnaire, although the emphasis will be on the clubs to update the details within RugbyFirst. Details of the RugbyFirst helpdesk are available at www.rfu.com/clubs.

Go Play Rugby

Clubs recruited a total of 9,420 adult players. The telephone survey of 713 clubs showed that clubs recruited an average of 19 this season (so far), 14 extra players per club compared to last season. Of these 14 players, 12 were not playing at all last season. The most highly rated methods of recruiting players were (a) personal contact (b) the club's website (c) club recruitment events.  81% of clubs found the training workshops to be supportive. 34% of clubs recruited more volunteers, 24% of clubs recruited more coaches and 11% of clubs recruited more referees. 

72% of clubs have improved links with their county RFU support staff, 57% of clubs have improved links with their local community and 24% of clubs have increased sponsorship and other direct financial support for their club. The success of the campaign was celebrated at a reception at the House of Commons on 13 March. RFU President, Bob Taylor, led the congratulations to all those involved, especially volunteers in clubs and CBs.

Disclaimer

The RFU Legal Secretary, Karena Vleck has approved the following disclaimer that CBs can use when giving their clubs advice "This [response/letter/email] is for guidance only and some of the comments may not be applicable in certain situations. It should not be regarded as a substitute for obtaining proper professional advice from [either a chartered accountant or a solicitor] (delete/add as appropriate), and (insert name of CB) cannot accept any liability where clubs or individuals have made decisions based on this guidance."

RFU Sports first aid course 

We have again secured sponsorship from Mobilis for our Sports First Aid Course. From 1 March, the first 200 courses to be run will come with a free place and clubs that host a course for 10 people or more will also receive a £50 voucher to spend with Mobilis. There is a slight change to the booking procedure that enables clubs to book groups of people onto courses rather than requiring each individual to register on a separate application form. This will reduce the administration required by clubs.

The course trains volunteers over 6 hours to administer first aid to rugby teams as recommended by the RFU. It is an HSE-approved appointed-persons level course, valid for three years and also suitable for other sports as well as first aid in the workplace. We are also offering tutor training for these courses, if you have any contacts who would like to become a tutor for the RFU sports first aid course just ask them to send their details to health@rfu.com.

Rugby Football Union Change Of Bankers  

Please be advised that the RFU is currently in the process of moving its bank accounts from Royal Bank of Scotland to Barclays Bank. The only change this will necessitate Constituent Bodies to make is to update your records of our bank accounts if you presently pay the RFU by BACS. The new bank account details will be printed on invoices sent out by the RFU once the transition is complete. 

Payments made to one of the RFU"s existing Royal Bank of Scotland accounts will automatically be transferred to one of its Barclays accounts for a period of time. Existing direct debits should automatically be transferred but the narrative appearing on your bank statements may change slightly. Should you have any queries regarding this, please contact the RFU Finance Department.

Disability Rugby

A "Zonal Tag Rugby” taster event (devised by Rachel Brown, CRC in Manchester) specifically for disabled players is taking place on Friday 9 May, 5.00pm-9.00pm at Stoke Mandeville Sports Centre, Buckinghamshire as part of the National Mini-Games, a disability sport event which runs for the whole weekend.

Presidents XV

Thank you to everyone who has nominated teams of volunteers for the Presidents XV awards. We received 158 nominations by the closing date, with the most nominations coming from Yorkshire (details below). This gave the Presidential Panel a tough job to select the winners who will be announced shortly.

Transport Issues  

For those of you travelling to see the RBS 6 Nations, England v Ireland match on Saturday 15 March please be aware that there are some transport issues affecting parts of London Underground and the M1 (which will be will be closed from 8 pm on 15 March until 2 pm on 16 March 2008 for the demolition of a bridge). For more details and alternatives, please click here.

Leisure Rugby

Keep up with the latest leisure rugby news including touch rugby in Kent and a Nottingham City Centre event here. If you, or any of your clubs, require any support and advice on anything Leisure Rugby (modified adult rugby: beach, tag, touch, sevens, tens) please contact leisurerugby@therfu.com or our new development officers Bruce Lockie ([brucelockie@rfu.com], 07894783368) for the North of England or Matt Foad ([mattfoad@rfu.com], 07725 141898) for the South of England.

Three in a row? 

The England Women's rugby team will be attempting to make it three Grand Slams in a row when they play their final RBS 6 Nations game against Ireland tomorrow.  Supporters are most welcome at London Irish Amateurs, Sunbury.  Kick off is at 16.45.

Plenty more rugby to come at Twickenham

We may be well over half way through the rugby season but there are still plenty of opportunities to come to Twickenham and experience top rugby at HQ.

EDF Energy Cup Final	Saturday 12 April
The Emirates Airline London Sevens	24 & 25 May
England v Barbarians	Sunday 1 June

For more info and tickets click here.

Presidents XV Nominations by CB

CB	Nominations	CB	Nominations
Army	0	Berkshire	1
Buckinghamshire	4	Cambridge University	0
Cheshire	6	Cornwall	0
Cumbria	5	Devon	7
Dorset & Wilts	13	Durham	1
East Midlands	3	Eastern Counties	8
Essex	13	Gloucestershire	2
Hampshire	2	Hertfordshire	4
Kent	4	Lancashire	2
Leicestershire	4	Middlesex	13
Royal Navy	0	North Midlands	10
Northumberland	4	Notts, Lincs & Derby	16
Oxford University	0	Oxfordshire	1
RAF	0	Somerset	3
Staffordshire	3	Surrey	3
Sussex	2	Warwickshire	0
Yorkshire	20	RFU Affiliates	4