A Carlisle volunteer has earned a trip to Twickenham Stadium thanks to his groundbreaking work embedding his local rugby club at the heart of the community.  

Creighton RUFC’s Richard Liddle has been nominated as one of the RFU Honda Volunteer of the Year finalists for his impressive work and commitment to ensuring that no child in his local area misses out on the opportunity to play rugby.

The awards are part of the Honda Volunteer Recognition Programme that provides opportunities for grassroots clubs to recognise the integral work done by volunteers.
Liddle was dismayed at the eye-watering fees, which could be associated with allowing young people to play sport and responded by setting up his own youth system to improve accessibility to Rugby.

The pioneering work now means Liddle is set to visit the home of English rugby on 30 August for the award finals in recognition of his achievements that have seen him attract a new generation of players who might otherwise not have been able to access the sport. 

(Image: RFU)

He said: "I played rugby all my life and I benefited from it just from the connections you make and the skills that you learn. I felt it was important for young people to learn them as well.

"I have three children of my own and I wanted my children to play rugby and be involved in it. When my oldest was ready to play tag rugby, we took him to a local club and found that the costs were prohibitive.

"I didn’t understand why it had to be expensive for kids to play rugby so me and my wife decided to set up our own youth system eight years ago. My wife does a lot of the admin and I do a lot of the advertising and coaching.  

"We started with around 10 kids playing rugby, who were mostly my kids’ friends. We set up a team from scratch and worked hard since then to build up. We’ve now got over a hundred kids signed up and playing rugby on a weekly basis.

Liddle is just one of several grassroots volunteers recognised by the Honda Volunteer of the Year awards, which aim to acknowledge and honour those who have made an instrumental impact within their clubs and communities over the past 12 months.
Over 2,000 volunteers were nominated across a number of categories, including Unsung Hero, Game for All, Connecting the Community and Game Changer.
And Liddle revealed he has seen first-hand the difference the work has made amongst children in the local area.

He added: ‘‘There can be quite a lot of anti-social behaviour around Creighton. There are lots of kids hanging around with nothing to do and I felt they could be reached.

"I could get to them, give them some purpose and something to do. Whenever I see a group of kids hanging around the club and I’m down there, I’ll go over there, talk to them, chuck a rugby ball around with them and see if they want to get involved.  

"They’re used to getting chased away by people and I just try to get engaged with them and get them to join in."

Liddle also expressed his gratitude for earning acclaim from the RFU for his efforts but has insisted awards come second to helping others and providing support for those in need.

He admitted: ‘‘I don’t do this kind of stuff for recognition. I do it to help people. For the RFU to recognise those at grassroots doing the not-noticed things is fantastic.  

"My wife, Hayley, does the admin for all of the teams and she’s just as deserving of this award as me in my opinion. We have a great group of people helping with everything from coaching and admin through to kitchen duties. We’re a really good team that does it all together and to see the kids with a smile on their face, with a Creighton rugby shirt on their back, having fun in the sun and enjoying rugby is the best feeling.  

"I now know I’ve helped some of them in ways I hadn’t thought about previously, like with mental health and that’s more important to me than winning a game or a cup. Helping someone feel better about themselves is a win in my book."

Volunteers are the backbone of grassroots rugby in England. If you’d like to get involved and make a difference at your community club, visit: www.englandrugby.com/volunteering