received support from a team of 12 CB Consultants. CB Orientation Day at Twickenham was attended by 31 new CB volunteer officers. The ’President’s XV’ scheme was introduced to identify and recognise volunteers’ hard work, rewarding 31 projects which made an outstanding contribution to the development of grassroots rugby. The 15 categories were aligned with the four themes of Community Rugby – More People, Better Places, Access for All and Enjoyment.
A new recognition booklet details RFU schemes recognising volunteers and 10,000 volunteer recognition certificates were distributed as well as more than 100 VIP ties and scarves. Over 500 volunteers were hosted at home international games and North Dorset RFC was nominated for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
With the welfare of players of paramount importance, the RFU’s Equity, Welfare and Medical team continued to progress, with the appointment of Nic Scott as Ethics, Equity and Welfare Manager, a number of major projects successfully completed and the department externally assessed for two important accreditations.
The Equity team was involved in more than 40 social inclusion projects, ranging from inner city rugby team development, to tag rugby for disabled players. Spring 2007 saw the department awarded the national Equality Standard Award (Foundation Level) for delivering against a range of equity criteria across the game. Analysis of the RFU Questionnaire between 2003 and 2006 has shown a 6% increase in the number of players from black and ethnic minority backgrounds playing the game.
The Welfare team processed over 13,000 Criminal Records Bureau applications following the revisions to the RFU Welfare Policy the previous year; they launched the new Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Rugby Union and Club Welfare Officers’ training courses and were awarded the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit’s Intermediate Award for delivering a quality service to the game. This underlines the RFU’s determination to ensure that it provides a safe environment for all young players.
The Medical team launched the new RFU First Aid course and a resource card showing clubs how to deal with concussion. They dealt with more than 1,000 medical enquiries from across the community game, commenced a three-year injury research programme with Bath University and launched the online health and safety toolkit – Virtual Advisor – to the game.
All in all it has been a tremendously busy year for the Community Rugby Department, which made great strides in developing and growing the game, prioritising Volunteers, Coaches and Referees in the lead up to the Player Recruitment Year of the Rugby World Cup.
Andrew Scoular
Director of Community Rugby
Being awarded the NSPCC Child Protection Award underlines the RFU's determination to ensure that it provides a sfae environment for all young players