Flying Start for the Rosslyn Park Community Programme

Over 700 hours of coaching delivered to school children by rugby club

Rosslyn Park already ran community programmes at local schools. Picture: Rossyln Park

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January 27, 2023

Rosslyn Park’s Community Programme has made a flying start to the year delivering over 23 different school & grant funded weekly sessions so far.

This is on top of the 712 hours of coaching provided up to the end of 2022 since the initiative began in June with the appointment of Dom Palacio as Head of Community Sport.

Over 700 children per week aged between four and 17 from 22 schools have used the club’s facilities with partnerships developed with schools across Barnes, Fulham, Putney, East Sheen, Wandsworth.

There are now nine ‘Community Coaches’ and a ground-breaking Crime Prevention/Education programme, branded Fast Forward – Roehampton, has been launched in partnership with Wandsworth Borough Council and The Metropolitan Police. The aim is to engage with local school children who live on or near The Alton Estate in SW15, and who have been identified as “at risk of Gang grooming”, in multi-sport sessions at their primary schools. Specifically, targeting children in year 6 of school, the sessions are supported by local community police officers talking to the children (and parents) about the risk of engaging in Gang criminality. The programme is supported by the Met Police Deputy Commissioner for Front Line Policing, Laurence Taylor.

Dom Shabbo, Rosslyn Park Managing Director said, “The club firmly believes that we are well placed to support and inspire young people through sport, be that rugby, netball or soccer and cricket. With our first class sporting facility located within Wandsworth, we are also keenly aware of our responsibilities to the wider community.

“By providing schools and youth clubs and the local university with specialist help and coaching, we hope that we can give young people the opportunity to have fun playing sport in a safe environment.”

Rosslyn Park’s Community Programme has already attracted grant funding for its work from National Lottery: Crime Prevent, Wandsworth Borough Council Crime Prevent and Sport England.

The Rosslyn Park National School 7s which was set up in 1939 attracts close to 14,000 children each year from 1000 schools across the UK and the world, is due to take place this year in March.

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