WRU club funding update

CLICK HERE to view WRU Club Funding Index

Following the call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss a range of issues the WRU has been asked to explain the strategy for improving and developing the community game across its 320 clubs.

The facilities grant schemes in recent years have ploughed money into a range of on and off the field projects from changing-rooms and floodlights to clubhouses, dance-floors and furniture.

The grant income for clubs is on top of the structure which sees more than £1m annually spent by the WRU on rugby grants for clubs, along with another £1m on development grants which promote partnership funding.

The WRU also spent more than £4m last year (YE13) on the operation of community rugby, which includes a team of more than fifty staff focused directly on the grassroots.

A major boost for community funding was achieved in 2010 with a £1m Participation Points Scheme, under which clubs were rewarded with equipment secured at cut price rates.

Then in 2012 the WRU awarded £500,000 directly in Facilities Grants, plus £200,000 in recruitment funding, taken up by clubs around Wales.

Last year the Facilities Grants amounted to a further £800,000 which has been taken up by some 90 member clubs. This investment has helped the clubs achieve more than £3m by utilising match funding initiatives.

The WRU has also produced a Club Funding Index which shows that across the five years Oct 2008 – Oct 2013, either through direct funding or by identifying outside funding bodies, the governing body has helped clubs attract more than £28m.

The Chairman of the WRU, David Pickering, said: “The community game is a priority and the funds identified are clear evidence of how we operate effectively and strategically to nurture and develop our clubs.

“The call for an EGM has raised some direct questions and we are happy to remind clubs how we operate to ensure rugby is sustainable at all levels across Wales.

“Of course we have all experienced a challenging economic environment but, as a union, we have been extremely focused and determined to keep the funding streams flowing.

“I will not insist we get everything right and it is important that, within the process we are now going through, we listen closely to what our clubs are telling us.

“But as part of that process we will also make sure the clubs have access to the accurate information they need in order to make informed judgements.”

The WRU Group Chief Executive, Roger Lewis, said: “We are proud of the funding levels we have been able to secure, through some difficult times for the wider economy in Wales.

“The facilities grant structure has been a way for us to deliver help to the clubs in years when we have outperformed on our budget estimates.

“It is also important to note that our Head of Rugby, Josh Lewsey, has completed a full review of how we nurture and develop the grassroots game and that will influence our investment in future.

“We have to work in an extremely focused way and that is why we operate to a five year rolling operational and strategic plan.

“The clubs have asked us for this information and we know we have a responsibility to keep them fully informed, so that we can all work together for the benefit of Welsh rugby.”