Premiership Rugby is very excited that Aviva, the world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the largest insurance services provider in the UK, is Premiership Rugby’s new title sponsor. You can see the full press release on Aviva’s site here, and the four year partnership will officially launch closer to the start of the 2010-2011 season.

We’re particularly excited about Aviva’s sponsorship because of their commitment to and interest in grassroots athletics. Aviva is committed to supporting the development of grassroots sport, especially among young people. Between them, the 12 rugby clubs in Aviva Premiership Rugby will commit 15,000 man hours to work with 36,000 pupils per season at 600 primary schools as well as providing them with equipment and teacher training.

We’ll be sharing more about this as it happens!

Unfortunately the season has now come to an end but behind the scenes at Premiership Rugby the work doesn’t stop!

A new scheme now being run by Northampton Saints in partnership with MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition…Do it!) is underway and hopes to tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity.

Sian Haynes, head of community at Northampton Saints, said:
“Rugby is a great sport to help deal with the issue of childhood obesity. There are different versions of the game, from Tag Rugby up to full contact, and as a professional sports club we are in an excellent position to give the children everything they need to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.” 

Government statistics indicate that one in five children are overweight or obese by the time they start school.  The Saints scheme is part of Premiership Rugby’s continuing effort to instigate early intervention programmes and hope that in doing so we will be able to lower the obesity figures amongst children in the future.  

In accordance with this, Premiership Rugby has also announced their support for National Childhood Obesity Week, an inaugural scheme being run by MEND and The National Obesity Forum.  The week will run from the 5^th to the 11^th July. 

We welcome the opportunity to support National Childhood Obesity Week and hope that the awareness it creates will help communities to understand how prominent this issue is.  Childhood obesity is an area of great importance to us and is one our community officers deal with on a day to day basis, but we believe strong brands, outstanding facilities and the admirable role models that rugby provides make the sport an invaluable tool in helping to fight the battle against obesity. 

Take a look at the images below of the Saints scheme in action!

Bristol Rugby pipped Saracens, Bath Rugby and Northampton Saints to the top award after a panel of judges unanimously crowned their Phoenix Project: Bright Sparks Programme as the winner. The four clubs battled for the title after being named as category winners in the first round.  Here’s a quick look at how things went on the night.

‘Bright Sparks’ is a social inclusion programme that utilizes the highest quality rugby union skills, drills and games, with team building and leadership workshops. The aim is to attain rapport with, and re-engage designated young people from schools in high risk areas back into the educational process. Working in partnership with organisations such as, Avon Fire & Rescue Service, Avon & Somerset Police and SERCO Prisons, the programme provides young people with direct and tangible examples of how poor life choices will directly affect their lives.

Derek Wyatt MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group said;

“This is the most sensational programme. It focuses on youth crime and anti-social behaviour, which are two very tricky areas to tackle. Their aims and objectives are really clear, well thought through and very targeted. It’s a very clean and simple programme, which is producing results. Bristol Rugby are solving something that, we can’t do as a government, nor can local education authorities.”

The awards were judged by a panel including; Derek Wyatt MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group, Robert Walter MP, Treasurer of the All Party Parliamentary Group, Mark McCafferty, CEO of Premier Rugby Ltd, Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director of SportBusiness Magazine and Alex MacGillivray, Senior Partner at Accountability.

Here’s a look at how things went on the night.

Winners from the first round were awarded on the night as follows;

Health Programme of the Year – Northampton Saints – Kick Smoking into Touch programme

Education programme of the Year – Bath Rugby Community Foundation – Language through Sport programme

Participation Programme of the Year – Saracens – Community Dance Programme.

Social Inclusion Programme of the Year – Bristol Rugby – Phoenix Project: Bright Sparks programme.
Commendations to Worcester Warriors – Worcestershire npower tag inclusive programme.

The All-Party Parliamentary Rugby Citizenship Awards, now in their fifth year, recognise the positive impact that professional rugby clubs have on their local environment, community and society.

RUGBY PLAYERS TACKLED ON ALCOHOL IN FIRST EVER LEAGUE-WIDE INITIATIVE
- Premier Rugby and Diageo announce positive results of attitudes to alcohol programme -

Thursday 3^rd December 2009: Recognising the need to provide alcohol information to players, Premier Rugby and Diageo have joined forces to develop and deliver an innovative attitudes to alcohol programme to every player and manager in the Guinness Premiership, achieving extremely positive results.

The programme has been designed to inform participants about alcohol and its effects on the body and behaviour, making them more aware of the choices they make when drinking.

Based on the DrinkiQ programme created by premium drinks company, Diageo, the programme was tailored by Premier Rugby specifically to connect with rugby players around scenarios and issues that are directly relevant to their health, career and life as a professional athlete.

All 12 Guinness Premiership clubs – 716 players and management in total (511 players and 205 members of management) – have now attended sessions run during the last two months and the response has been overwhelmingly positive to this first ever league-wide alcohol programme:

• 94% of players and 97% of management said they learnt something from the session .
• 91% of players and 97% of management would recommend the training to other players.
• 82% of players and 87% of management believed that the programme had been very good or excellent.

Martin Corry, former Leicester Tigers and England captain, who was involved in developing the programme to meet the needs of professional rugby players in the UK, said: “The programme has really opened the eyes of the rugby world to the effects of alcohol on the body and the impact of drinking too much on your performance. These are the sorts of issues that resonate with the players, so we are really speaking to them in their world to encourage them to assess their attitudes to alcohol. Before taking part in the programme, many players didn’t realise that overdoing it on a night out can impair your performance the next day and increase the risk of injury – a major consideration in a competitive sport.”

Ugo Monye of Harlequins and England said, “I enjoyed the session we had here at Harlequins and found it hugely educational and thought-provoking. As a professional athlete it’s essential to be aware what kind of effects alcohol can have on the body.”

Gerry Sutcliffe, Minister for Sport at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport added,

“I applaud Premier Rugby’s moves to talk to players about responsible drinking and the impact that alcohol abuse could have on their health and professional careers.  I am pleased that Premier Rugby, the Rugby Players’ Association and the clubs are working closely together on this and that coaches and managers are involved, who are important in imbedding the right type of culture in clubs.”

Phil Winstanley, Rugby Director at Premier Rugby said, “As employers, the clubs recognise the importance of their athletes being properly informed on the effects of alcohol on the body. We looked into using the DrinkiQ programme developed by Diageo and tailored it specifically for rugby players. I’d like to thank Diageo for their support. We’re extremely pleased with the results.”

During the sessions, players and managers gain a greater understanding of the effect of alcohol on the body and the potential dangers of misuse both from a health perspective and from the perspective of a professional athlete. The players are encouraged to discuss their personal experiences of alcohol in a safe environment and are given rugby specific scenarios in breakout groups, identifying how behaviour can deteriorate with irresponsible drinking but also looking at strategies to ensure that they approach their nights out in a responsible manner.

Ron Ainsbury, who developed the DRINKiQ programme for Diageo said: “DRINKiQ was designed to provide our 20,000 employees with information to make the right decisions about drinking so that they can enjoy alcohol responsibly. Sportsmen and women are important role models in today’s society so it’s great to see Premiership rugby teams responding so well to the sessions. I hope that other sporting associations will follow Premier Rugby’s example in recognising the importance of ensuring their players are aware of the facts about alcohol and its effects.”

This weekend (5th and 6th December) fans at all Guinness Premiership matches will also be reminded to drink responsibly as part of the Guinness Premiership’s Responsible Drinking Weekend and Diageo’s ‘bite to eat’ programme. A variety of activities will be happening at matches including giving free pies to supporters to highlight the importance of eating between drinks and inviting fans to take part in a ‘co-ordination challenge’ to bring the impact of excessive drinking to life. They will also be offered a free bottle of water after the game to encourage them to drink water between alcoholic drinks.

During Anti-Bullying Week this year, we’re celebrating the fact that our programme with the NSPCC, Kick Bullying Into Touch, is entering its second year. We’ve had a number of great key impacts so far, including:

• 97% had a better understanding of the different forms of bullying
• 69% have experienced less bullying instances within their class
• 70% felt more safe
• 66% felt more confident working in a team
• 72% felt more able to talk to someone if they know of someone or even themselves being bullied
• 24% went onto join a local rugby club or take part in additional rugby sessions

Here’s the full press release:

Richard Hill is ‘Kicking Bullying into Touch’

2009’s Anti-Bullying Week sees former Saracens, England, and British and Irish Lions star Richard Hill at Field Junior School in Watford today to run one of the Guinness Premiership club’s ‘Kicking Bullying into Touch’ programmes for school children aged between six and 11 years.

‘Kicking Bullying into Touch’ is a programme created by the 12 Guinness Premiership rugby clubs and ChildLine. The programme uses the appeal of some of rugby’s most well known players to talk to children aged between six and 11 years about bullying.

Richard’s visit to Field Junior School marked the start of the second year of the programme, with over 17,000 children having taken part in the programme in the first year.

Each one of the 12 Guinness Premiership clubs nominates a dedicated anti-bullying ambassador, with players like Saracens and England captain Steve Borthwick, Sale Sharks’ Andrew Sheridan, London Wasps’ Paul Sackey and Harlequins’ Ugo Monye taking part.

The ambassadors from all 12 clubs are featured in a DVD and a z-card distributed to the children as part of the programme, which is then delivered in schools by club players. A survey of children who had taken part in the programme showed over 97% of children had a better understanding of the different forms of bullying.

The link with rugby has been a valuable one, with the programme particularly targeted at young boys, a group that often struggles to talk about bullying.

Saracens’ Foundation Director Richard Hill said, “I am really pleased to be at Field Junior School today to start the second year of the ‘Kicking Bullying into Touch’ programme.

“The partnership has been a hugely successful one across the Premiership, with the programme delivered in 360 schools in the first year of the programme and 420 targeted for this second year. For our part, I am proud to say that Saracens will be delivering the programme in 30 schools in our area.

“The figures from a survey we did reveal that 97% of the children who have been through the programme have a better understanding of the different forms of bullying, showing that the clubs and players have made a real difference. We’re all really proud of that across the league.”

NSPCC head of child protection awareness Chris Cloke said: “Bullying is still the number one problem that children call ChildLine about, accounting for 17 per cent of all children counselled by the helpline last year. That’s why innovative schemes like ‘Kicking Bullying into Touch’ are so important to help reinforce the message that bullying is wrong.”

The partnership between the Guinness Premiership clubs and ChildLine was launched at the start of national Anti-Bullying Week last year and marked the beginning of a wider awareness-raising and fundraising partnership between the two parties.

As part of the programme, the Guinness Premiership dedicates a round of matches to ChildLine in April to raise awareness and funds for ChildLine.

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said, “Bullying, in any form, should not be tolerated – it can destroy lives and have a lasting impact on young people’s confidence, self-esteem and emotional development. At the start of this year’s Anti-Bullying Week, I’m delighted to be able to support the NSPCC and Premier Rugby as they continue the successful programme ‘Kicking Bullying into Touch’. Now in its second year, they are doing fantastic work reaching out to primary school children through sport, to help raise awareness and tackle the problem of bullying.”

SportBusiness magazine recently ran a piece on sport and CSR that included a case study on Premier Rugby’s community work (case study #2, on the second page of the PDF). I got quoted in the piece:

Our model is that everything we do carries a message for social good, whether it be grass roots participation, social inclusion, education or health. We attach our unique assets to that – the brand, the facilities, the players as role-models and ambassadors. Then we work on an ‘intervention-based’ system where we deliver the Premier Rugby message along with our brand partners and then use a professional development structure to deliver those messages into schools, businesses or clubs.

SportBusiness also participated in this year’s Parliamentary Citizenship Awards, which they covered here.

Using sports stadia as a hub for broadcasting messages and educating consumers can be particularly effective, as it provides a channel to reach those who are often least well informed about maintaining their own health: men. Statistics show men are less inclined to see a doctor than women and have different needs when it comes to communication of health information to men. Stadia are, therefore, ideal ways of reaching this audience as those who visit sport stadia are disproportionately male.

Premier Rugby Limited sees the Healthy Stadia Conference as an innovative way of moving forward the debate about clubs and community.

Last week Paul Sackey, a player for London Wasps and England and an NSPCC ambassador, visited Tilehouse Combined School in Denham Green, Uxbridge to meet students and teach them about bullying. The visit was part of PRL and the NSPCC’s Kick Bullying Into Touch programme, which uses tag rugby to teach schoolchildren about bullying, its effects, and how to address it. The programme also promotes the NSPCC’s ChildLine service.

To date the Kick Bullying Into Touch has been introduced to 135 schools, and by the end of the two year pilot PRL community managers will have run the programme in 780 schools reaching 234,000 children.

Said Sackey: “You don’t always agree with your team mates, but you learn to sort out your differences in a respectful manner and make sure no one is bearing grudges as that can ruin your chances. Kids might be surprised to know this, but even some rugby players have been bullied at school. No one should put up with bullying, but you have to deal with it safely, and I hope by going into schools with ChildLine we can all make play our part in tackling bullying.”

You can watch a video of the day on BucksTV here. You can also learn more about the visit on GuinnessPremiership.com and the London Wasps’s site.

I took part in great match last week that was put on by BARA, the British Asian Rugby Association. The third annual ‘Tag Time’ event got a number of rugby legends (including Martin Offiah, Abi Ekoku, Ady Spencer, and Jason Critchley) and MPs (including Greg Mullholland MP, Andy Reed MP and Neil Turner MP) together for a match to promote the ‘Connecting Communities’ Project, which the Leeds Rugby Foundation is doing with Leeds Metropolitan University to break down cultural barriers and proactively tackle inclusion within sport. The match took place in partnership with both the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League & Rugby Union Groups, and was held at the Harelquins Stoop. You can learn more on BARA’s site here.