In recognition of its community outreach efforts, the Newcastle Falcons rugby team was given the Premier Rugby Citizenship Award for 2007. In a ceremony held today, the judging panel — consisting of Andy Reed MP (Loughborough), Mike Horah, Head of Social Marketing at the Department of Health, Catherine Sermon, Community Investment Campaign Director at Business in the Community and former England rugby international, and Derek Wyatt MP (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) — recognised the team, just days before the league final to be held at Twickenham on Saturday.
“Newcastle Falcons provide a perfect example of the positive impact that sport has on local communities across England. They impressed all of us when they cited their work in the community as central to their vision of the club’s long term future, but also with the joined up approach they have taken to working with other community partners, notably the RFU,” said Derek Wyatt MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby Group.
Premier Rugby allocated roughly £2m per year to its community projects and 100,000 man hours of service.
