NCL sides among those to get World Cup grants

Thatto Heath Crusaders and Siddal are two of the clubs to have been given grants by the CreatedBy Fund from the World Cup.

The latest projects take the total investment to over £10m.

This announcement comes as RLWC2021 marks a year to go until the start of the tournament.

Also in line for investment is Victoria Park. The site is often used for Warrington Wolves Women, Reserve, PDRL and LDRL matches. It will also host all but one match of the PDRL World Cup.

Full details of investments and what they are for are below.

Thatto Heath Crusaders (St Helens) – The project will see the clubconvert an existing grass pitch to a carpet hybrid pitch, allowing for greater usage across the club’s teams, while increasing levels of participation in the local community.

The project will also aim to combat fixture cancellation due to bad weather. Match quality floodlighting will be installed to maximise the potential use of the pitch.

The facility will develop an improved Rugby League offer to support increasing participation in adult females, as well as the development of a girl’s pathway.

Siddal ARLFC (Halifax) – The grant will be used to convert an existing grass pitch to a carpet hybrid pitch with floodlighting, providing Siddal with more pitch capacity to accommodate all its rugby league activity.

This will lead to increased levels of participation (training and match play) in the local community, while reducing the amount spent on hiring external training facilities due to an unplayable pitch.

Greater opportunity to play rugby league will provide more opportunities for women and girls and develop a sustainable pathway for this area.

Victoria Park ARLFC (Warrington) – The project will see £600,000 investment for the creation of a new 3G pitch.

The investment will transform the club into a community Hub for the development and growth of Rugby League in Warrington.

The club has fantastic community backing and is in partnership with Warrington Borough Council and supported by Warrington Wolves Foundation.

The grant is to be used to help grow Physical Disability Rugby League (PDRL), Learning Disability Rugby League (LDRL) and women’s and girls’ Rugby League.

The site will also be the home of all fixtures for the PDRL World Cup, apart from the final, in 2021.

Jon Dutton, Chief Executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021, said: “With exactly a year to go until our finals at Old Trafford our social impact programme is really making a difference.

To achieve £10million worth of new projects that will leave a long lasting legacy in community rugby league is fantastic.

As a tournament with a purpose we are dedicated to using the next twelve months to continue this much needed investment programme through the pledge that UK Government have made to the tournament.”