Ospreys In The Community Foundation Reaching New Heights

It’s been just three years since the Ospreys in the Community Foundation was set up, but that’s not stopping the charity reaching new heights season after season. 2017/18 has been another resounding success story of expansion and engagement, with the team growing to 10 full time staff and engaging with 45,000 people. This is almost doubling the figure from the previous year.

Adding to the huge success of the current Educational, Health, Sport and Inclusion projects already run by Ospreys in the Community, the team have continued to pilot and deliver a diverse range of new programmes which has allowed them to reach even more people and increase the foundation’s impact across the community. This increase has been largely possible thanks to the thirty key stakeholders that OitC have worked with in 2017/18.

Also increasing and improving in the last twelve months has been the Foundation’s financial position. By diversifying, the turnover for 2017/18 has increased by 35% and now commercial income streams and grants are responsible for over 50% of the income generated.

Paul Whapham, Head of Community Ospreys Region, commented on 2017/18:

“It’s been another hugely busy period for Ospreys in the Community and one where we have reached some real milestones. When you pause and look back at the last twelve months it’s incredible to see how much our small team have achieved and the impact we have had on the community across Ospreylia and beyond. I’d like to express my thanks to the key stakeholders who have worked with us in 2017/18 and helped to enableus to have this incredible impact.

“As much as I like looking back on the past year the real excitement and opportunity lies ahead. We have several new projects in the pipeline which will enable us to reach even more people and impact the lives of people we haven’t engaged with before.

“Over the last season we have also been working closely with the Welsh Rugby Union to pilot a One Community offering for the region, identifying ways we can combine strategies to maximise staff and resources. In the very near future we will be formally launching this partnership and we are confident that in 2018/19 it will play a large part in us being able to engage with more individuals, schools, groups and teams than ever before.”