WRU invest further £1 million to improve club facilities

The Welsh Rugby Union has announced the biggest level of club facility investment to date to improve the sustainability and attractiveness of Welsh rugby clubs.

For the first time in its facilities funding budget, the WRU has ring-fenced a one-off sum of £200 000 across the 16 A Licenced Principality Premiership clubs to continue to improve their on and off field infrastructure. Clubs will be able to apply for grants for qualifying projects, with the potential for the amounts awarded to be increased further by external funding, either sourced by the clubs themselves or with the help of the WRU Club Operations team.

Two one-off amounts of £400 000 have also been made available to the community game in Wales, the first destined to improve the clubs’ off-field infrastructure such as clubhouses, in order to improve their community and family involvement and spectator experience, and the second tranche of funding to improve their playing and training facilities. The improved facilities will help grassroots clubs achieve new ‘Standards’ awarded to clubs to recognise their level of club structure and development, culture and policies, rugby participation and on and off field facilities.

This funding is in addition to £250k in artificial pitch funding recently awarded to Pontypridd Rugby Club by the joint WRU, Hockey Wales, FAW and Sport Wales Collaboration Group as part of the total cost of a new 3G, which includes a £100k WRU loan to the club to enable the project to go ahead.

WRU Group Chief Executive Martyn Phillips said, “We are determined to fund Welsh rugby at every level from grass roots to the professional game, for the short and long term. ‎The team at the WRU have worked hard, in what is always a difficult financial climate in a Rugby World Cup season, to make extra investment available. The £1m investment confirmed today, along with the previously communicated additional £500k for National Dual contracts, is a clear demonstration of our balanced approach to a healthy game at all levels.”

WRU chairman Gareth Davies added:
“We are unerring in our determination to encourage more people to be involved in rugby more often and with more enjoyment. Good quality facilities to allow clubs to prosper within their communities are key to this strategy and we are delighted that our financial performance this year has enabled us to invest more than ever in this area, especially, for the first time, in facillities grant funding for the semi-professional level of the game which is key to the WRU performance pathway.”

The £1 million in facilities grant investment adds to a total of just under £2.5m invested in grassroots facility funding in the last four years.