The lockdown continues and the rugby club remains closed. The Foundation worked in schools right up to the latest lockdown but has been unable to do any work since. More about that later.
The decision not to take part in a ‘friendly’ cup competition turned out to be the correct decision, with the competition never starting before being abandoned.
We are focussing on our squad for next season, which we are hoping will start in September. We are well down the line of signing players and some names have already been released; more to follow soon.
The clubhouse is closed but the costs are still there with regards to rent and utilities. We kept beer stocks under control but inevitably we have opened kegs which are now out of date and have had to be written off; this amounts to around 40 gallons of beer/lager/Guinness/cider. With the government banning collections from licensed premises, we couldn’t even give it away. It looks like the earliest we will open will be May, and pessimistically it could be July.
We have had the clubhouse roof repaired and the building now appears to be watertight again. We have also taken advantage of the shutdown to complete our 5-year fixed wire testing and to get the alarms and fire extinguishers serviced. We all look forward to when we can welcome you back for a drink and a catch up.
We are having some gates fitted to both the rugby and cricket entrances to try and reduce the amount of unsocial behaviour we are experiencing most nights. Criminal damage and general littering are now the norm when we arrive at the club, and we have had to invest in gates to try and stop this ridiculous behaviour. These will hopefully be installed by the end of February.
News from the Titans Community Foundation
Due to the new lockdown, the Foundation were unable to start again in schools after Christmas.
In the Autumn term they had worked with over 1000 children and provided nearly 700 hours of coaching, mentoring and support. Our Head Coach, Steve Salvin, has joined the TCF team and is working to build a programme with the secondary schools in Rotherham, who now have no rugby input from the RFU due to the cuts. This work will continue when we are back in schools later in the Spring Term.
Jamie Cooke’s idea for a fitness app for schools has been taken up by a local charity, WorkWise, as a school project for their Get Up To Speed (GUTS) event in March. This STEM event is usually held at MAGNA, with thousands of students and hundreds of employers. The pandemic means it will become a ‘virtual’ event, and Jamie is working with CityFibre, AND Digital and WorkWise, to support the schools who are competing to help design the app. It will go into production in the summer term and hopefully be rolled out to schools in Rotherham from September.
Find out more about the project here: https://work-wise.co.uk/news/the-work-wise-foundation-partners-with-cityfibre-and-rotherham-titans-rugby-club-to-create-an-exciting-innovation-challenge/
The Foundation is also delighted to announce that they have received notification of a successful funding bid with Sport England for a project with Rotherham schools for the summer term. We will publish more details of this when everything is finalised, but it will allow us to offer high quality training and support to children in Rotherham, through rugby, during the summer.
Finally, thank you again to everyone for your on-going support; it is helping the club to get through this very difficult time.
To you all, and your families, stay safe and healthy, and we look forward to welcoming you back to Clifton Lane soon.
