Crawley Rugby Football Club crowned winners at Community Club of the Year Awards at Twickenham Stadium ceremony

A small representation of CRFC committee members travelled to Twickenham Stadium, the home of English Rugby, on March 17.

CRFC were Nominated for the Community Club of the year award at the Community Sport and Recreation Awards 2023, a nationally-recognised awards programme, organised by the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This year, the awards were hosted by Sky Sports News presenter, Jasper Taylor.

Nominated for their work on providing rugby for all primary and secondary school children and to our wheelchair rugby team The only community rugby club in Sussex to offer rugby to both able-bodied and disabled people, Crawley Rugby Football Club run 16 rugby teams for all ages from three years old to adults with four additional girls’ teams being built.

The club also has a relationship with Crawley College, where it delivers sessions throughout the year to students with additional educational needs, and a number of local charities. They support causes including: supporting adults with learning difficulties to get jobs, delivering Christmas meals to over 400 families on the poverty line and wrapping over 700 Christmas presents for local children, and offering their facilities for free to an Alzheimer’s charity to host meetings.

Around 160 guests were in attendance for the celebration, with Alliance President, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, on hand to present the eight winning individuals and organisations with their trophies. The award winners also each received a £1000 prize, which will help them continue their fantastic work moving forward.

Crawley Rugby Football Club was crowned winner at the awards ceremony sponsored by Equality Leaders. The award was presented to the CRFC committee by the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s President, HRH Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex, and we also received £1000.

On being named a finalist Chairman Dan McGurran said: “Being nominated for such an award is a huge privilege for the rugby club whose volunteers work so hard in the community to grow the game and create an enjoyable environment for all children and adults within Crawley.”

Alliance Chair, Dame Janet Beer, closed the ceremony with the following words: “It is vitally important to us that we continue to celebrate these initiatives that tackle huge societal challenges, from mental health to inclusion and sustainability. Sport and recreation are arguably unique in their reach, with people from a vast array of backgrounds and circumstances engaged with our sector, making it an incredibly valuable way to tackle societal issues.”

“I hope you will all join me in congratulating all the nominees on their fantastic achievements – winners and finalists alike have all done incredible work this year, and grassroots sport and recreation benefits immensely from their contribution.”

A huge thank you from everyone at the Alliance to all those who joined us to celebrate the amazing work of our 24 finalists and a special congratulation to our eight winners.

The Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Community Sport and Recreation Awards have been running for over 25 years, and are an annual celebration of grassroots clubs, organisations and individuals. The awards celebrate the full breadth of sport and recreation.

Find out more on the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s website, Twitter, Instagram andLinkedIn, and get involved using #CSRA2023 on Twitter.