A few years ago, I got invited to corporate hospitality at Twickenham to watch a game between Saracens and Wasps. I was with my French sidekick, Aretha Lagard, Saracens Pioneer and John Trigg, Head of Pioneers at Saracens, during match day, we shared a table with other rugby aficionados. Sitting next to me, was a prison officer, involved in the “ Get Onside” – Prison Programme, part of the Saracens Sports foundation, which I found out was aimed at reducing reoffending and improving the life opportunities of often disadvantaged and marginalised individuals at the HMP Feltham Young Offenders institute. It was incredibly interesting to learn how this programme was helping young offenders to find the right path again and it reminded me of a Nelson Mandela quote about the power of sport.
From left to right: moi – Veronique Landew, John Trigg and Aretha Lagard
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope once there was only despair”.
Last week, I got contacted, and asked to become an ambassador of “the virtual Rugby show”, which takes place on the 26th, 27th and 28th June”, and is in support of Lawrence Dallaglio’s charity, DallaglioRugbyWorks. I accepted the offer immediately, as I was really impressed by RugbyWorks, which is an intensive, long-terms skills development programme, based on rugby, through which they aim to get teenagers outside of mainstream education into sustained education, employment or training.
Dallaglio founded this charity once he had retired from professional rugby, as he felt an overwhelming responsibility to give something back to people who weren’t fortunate enough to have a support network around them, something that he was lucky enough to have benefitted from throughout his career. RugbyWorks was initially devised to help young and disadvantaged people tackle life’s challenges, but quickly evolved into an intensive social inclusion programme based around the values of rugby, for teenagers who have been excluded from school. Its mission was to help the hardest to reach teenagers secure a job and ultimately to build a career. Twelve years on, the programme has been delivered in eight regions across the UK, to over 600 young people in Alternative Provision schools.
So, the Virtual Rugby show will not only provide Rugby Supporters with their Rugby fix, with topics, such as plans for England Rugby and the future of the game with Bill Sweeney, RFU CEO to Life and Stories from the Lions tour and what to expect in 2021 with Martin Johnson, Sam Warburton, Brian O’Driscoll, Martin Bayfield to making sure that Grassroots and its club perspective is being talked about.
The Virtual Rugby show will start today , Friday 26th June at 17h45 with the usual suspects from the Rugby Show, Lawrence Dallaglio, Austin Healey, Ben Kay and Craig Doyle and finish on Sunday evening.
It’s going to be a rugby fest weekend! Rugby’s finally back!
Here is the link for the Show Guide:
Register below and see you, virtually, later!
Veronique (Landew)
https://www.virtualrugbyshow.co.uk
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RUGBY ENTENTE CORDIALE 