COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SHORTLISTED FOR PARLIAMENTARY AWARDS
PREMIERSHIP RUGBYconfirmed that Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons, Saracens and Worcester Warriors will battle for some of the most important awards in the rugby calendar.
The quartet have been shortlisted for the prestigious All Parliamentary Premiership Rugby Community Awards, which will be held on 19 June at the House of Commons from applications submitted by the shareholder clubs of Premiership Rugby.
The awards, which are in their eighth year, are being run in association with The All Party Parliamentary Rugby Union Group, Premiership Rugby, and media partner SportBusiness Group. Premiership Rugby’s partners Aviva, Land Rover and Perform Group are each sponsoring an award.
Clubs will be competing for three awards; the Community Impact Award supported by Aviva, the Play Award supported by Land Rover, and the BreakThru Award supported by Perform Group.
The winners will be announced on 19 June at an evening reception in the historic Terrace Room of the House of Commons.
The Newcastle Falcons have been shortlisted for the Play Award.
The Play Award supported by Land Rover is designed to reward a bespoke programme or one-off piece of activity that encourages participation, improvement or excellence in the game of rugby union. The programme is not judged solely on size but rather the difference the programme has made in the community.
The shortlist is:
• Harlequins – Inner London Player Development Programme
• Newcastle Falcons – Summer of Touch Programme
Laura Schwab, Land Rover UK Marketing Director, said: “We are delighted to build on the successful involvement of Land Rover in community rugby by sponsoring this award which recognizes the innovative social programmes which Premiership Rugby clubs have developed to engage the local community. It’s fantastic that the clubs are developing these initiatives which really show where the sport of rugby can help tackle key issues in their areas. Land Rover’s commitment to rugby covers every level of the game, from Rugby World Cup 2015 through to the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. We are committed to supporting the development of the young players of the future and recognising the innovative programmes which are run in the communities around the country, this is something we are extremely proud of.”
Mark McCafferty, Chief Executive of Premiership Rugby added: “Community programmes are crucial to Premiership Rugby. The Premiership Rugby clubs deliver more than 150,000 hours of community programming each year and community engagement is at an all-time high. This is underlined by the launch of our Play and BreakThru campaigns and our passing the milestone of more than 100,000 children being introduced to rugby through the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools programme; a scheme which targets new-to-rugby, non-traditional rugby schools.
“The awards on 19 June recognise the depth and breadth of work around the country, acknowledge the most impactful clubs and provide best practice examples for other clubs to use.”
Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director at SportBusiness Group, said: “Sport Business is proud to be a partner of the All Parliamentary Premiership Rugby Community Awards once again. With the Rugby World Cup looming on the horizon, businesses committed to sports based CSR programmes or interested in building their reputations among rugby union fans in the UK should look at the community work being done here already and ask themselves: ‘Why are we not supporting this?”
