The Rugby Football Union (‘RFU’) has been awarded a grant to become the 34th project within the Families Fund portfolio (‘the fund’), and the only National Governing Body working in this fund. Launched in 2017, the £40M fund is aimed at getting families in lower socio economic communities exercising together.
The RFU will launch 12 national projects delivering opportunities to the doorsteps of up to 1,000 families living in lower socio economic communities with the £435,000 it has been awarded. This will help families be active together and remove many of the barriers associated with traditional sport.
With nearly 2,000 clubs across England providing a hub for many communities, the RFU and its member clubs will build on the good work already being undertaken in the game to connect further with this under represented group.
Sports Minister Nigel Adams said: “It is vital that sport organisations come together to help inspire the next generation to get out there and enjoy all the benefits that sport brings. One of the best ways of doing that is to get children and parents active at the same time.
“This RFU and Sport England partnership, funded by the National Lottery, will give families of all ages the chance to take part together in their own communities.”
Steve Grainger, RFU Development Director, commented: “Rugby clubs are wonderfully diverse places, and many reflect their local communities very well. As a sport that is 148 years old and built on strong values, we want to ensure that as many people as possible can see the ‘rugby family’ as an extension of their own family unit.
“There is sometimes a perception that the doors of a rugby club aren’t open, which simply isn’t true. This project will enable us to support our clubs to do more great work with their local families, help the local club to be seen as a somewhere for children, parents, grandparents, cousins and extended family to spend time and enable communities to be more active, healthier and happier.”
Almost four out of five of the seven million children in England aged 5 to 15 are not doing the recommended daily amount of exercise. The Chief Medical Officer in England recommends children do at least 60 minutes of activity every day. For one reason or another, this is not the case for the majority of children. The £40 million Families Fund portfolio aims to change that and there are now 34 projects across the nation receiving National Lottery Funding to increase physical activity levels in low income families.
The latest Active Lives Survey revealed that only 54% of adults, with children, on a low income are active compared to 71% of those in higher income groups.
There is a similar picture when it comes to inactivity, with a third of adults, with children, on a low income classed as ‘inactive’, doing fewer than 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week.
Mike Diaper, Sport England’s executive director for children, young people and tackling inactivity, commented: “Parents have many demands on their time and can lack confidence in how to get active with their children. We are really pleased to be working with the RFU, a sport based in the hearts of many communities, to offer more opportunities to get families active together.”
The project will run from October 2019 to coincide with the Rugby World Cup, using the visibility of the tournament to reach new audiences. It will run through to January 2021.
Courtesy of the RFU
