Following the outbreak of COVID-19 the RFU was one of the first sports to call an end to the season and within three working days announced a £7m support package for community clubs across England. Steve Grainger, director of rugby development, explains the union's approach:
“Our first priority was the safety and welfare of all those involved in the game. It is saddening to hear of the losses of several members of the rugby family and our thoughts go out to their families and friends. Halting rugby was a tough decision but one which was unavoidable.
“We took a few days to carefully asses how we could ensure we addressed the immediate needs of those most severely impacted and then provided as much certainty as possible by finalising league structures, the feedback on the approach to both has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The RFU operates in much the same way as rugby clubs across the country – the vast majority of our revenue comes from events and matches at Twickenham and this is invested in supporting and growing the game at all levels. As the impact of Covid-19 on our revenues became clear we recognised the challenges this was going to present to clubs and moved quickly to provide as much guidance and support as early as we could.
“A new dedicated area of our website (www.englandrugby.com/coronavirus) houses information on a wide range of topics – accessing funding support packages, how to moth-ball facilities and maintain pitches, online support hub for clubs and an online process to access RFU loans.
“Clubs have bills to pay and little revenue coming in so our immediate focus has been supporting clubs to access small business grants of £10-£25k from government and grants of up to £10k from Sport England. We have released £1m of funding directly to Geographic Constituent Bodies (CBs), who have added £400k to this, creating a £1.4m immediate support grants fund for clubs. Alongside this we launched a fund of up to £5m, offering loans of £2k-£10k to clubs, repayable interest free over 3 years with an initial payment holiday of up to 6 months. The first loans were released last week.
John Heatherington, treasurer at Consett & District RFC in Durham said: “The crisis has changed the entire way ours and all rugby clubs are running. Our budgets depend on income from hospitality and sport and when this funding stream disappears overnight, serious decisions need to be made quickly.
The RFU loan application and sign off process was straightforward to work through, efficient in the time taken to process and quick to obtain the funds. As a club, cash flow is key to us, as we await staff furlough facilities and explore other funding routes. Being able to obtain a loan from the governing body so quickly shows the commitments being made to the long term future of the game and grass roots rugby clubs, enabling us to be in the best position to hit the ground running when restrictions are lifted.”
Grainger continued: “In our discussions with many clubs of different sizes in recent weeks it's great to see that the vast majority have the immediate future under control, they have locked things down and the various support mechanisms will see them through the next few months.
“For those in real difficulty we are here to help and will do all we can. The bigger challenge for many is the revenue losses from events over the next few months and the impact this will have at the start of next season. This is now where our focus is and we are in dialogue with clubs to understand this impact in greater detail and to consider how we might help mitigate it.
“It's heartening to hear the amazing stories of clubs helping their communities, as well as club recovery and remodelling plans. We are sharing these on our website for others to see and to hopefully replicate. The next few months will undoubtedly be a testing time for the rugby family – together we can unite, get through this and come out stronger.”
