The finalists for the sixth annual Premiership Rugby Parliamentary Rugby Community Awards -which are dedicated to highlighting best practice in community rugby – have been announced with Worcester Warriors shortlisted in two categories.
Warriors are the only club to gain two nominations and have been shortlisted in the MNBA Innovation Award for the formation of the Midlands Ladies Touch League. The league was launched this season by the club in a bid to encourage and engage more women in taking part in rugby union across the entire West Midlands region.
The club has also been shortlisted in the Land Rover Impact Award for the In Touch project, which is run by Warriors, Wooden Spoon, Talbot Underwriting and works with young people with few or no qualifications and those who have been identified by local youth services as being at high risk of long term unemployment. The project – aimed people right across Worcestershire aged 16+ who are not in full-time employment, education and training – helps them gain skills, respect and discipline and to introduce key skills and new qualifications.
The full list of finalists are listed below:
MBNA Innovation Award Bristol Rugby, Worcester Warriors
Land Rover Impact Award Bath Rugby, Worcester Warriors
Aviva Club of the Year Leicester Tigers, Saracens
Run in conjunction with the All Party Rugby Union Group (a cross party group made up of Parliamentarians in both Houses of Parliament who support Rugby Union), the Premiership Rugby Parliamentary Rugby Community Awards are sponsored by Aviva, Land Rover and MBNA and supported by media partner SportBusiness Group.
Chair of the All Party Group, Tony Cunningham MP said, “The scale of the community work the Premiership Rugby clubs do is admirable. The clubs and players are committed to the projects and work very closely with their partners to produce significant results. I look forward to the final on July 6th.”
Steve Joslin, Community Rugby Manager at Warriors, said: “We are delighted to be selected in two categories this season. The Community team at Sixways works extremely hard on a variety of projects and being shortlisted is recognition of that hard work and our aim to use professional sport as a way of making a real difference and tackling issues within the local area.”
Wayne Morris, Head of Community at Premiership Rugby, said: “Our clubs have a community network as well as the experience which makes them first rate partners for public and private sector organisations looking to use their CSR or community investments to help solve local or national social issues.
“The breadth of the programmes on display was amazing, from Bath Rugby’s programme for primary and secondary school girls, to Saracens’ “Strictly Come Dancing” programme for over 50s, to Bristol Rugby’s programme with young offenders.
“The clubs going forward to the Final are at the forefront of what they do. It will be a tough job deciding between them when it comes to the final in July.”
The judging panel consisted of organisations and individuals expert and experienced in sports based community policy and programmes including Aviva, Sport England, Fit for Sport, Prince’s Trust, Youth Sport Trust, Serco, Dr Keith Gilbert of the University of East London, the Social Enterprise Coalition and Right to Play.
The Parliamentary Rugby Union Group Awards will be held at the House of Commons on July 6.