Windsor RFC working hard to keep members engaged in difficult times, says chairman Mike Crawshaw

In a time of uncertainty for grassroots sport, Windsor RFC are doing their utmost to ensure their members and players stay committed to the club until the season gets underway in the New Year.

With competitive action not due to return until January 2021 at the earliest, club chairman Mike Crawshaw and the staff of Windsor rugby club have hosted COVID-safe events and lunches.

Whilst bringing the community together has been Crawshaw’s fundamental aim, these meetings have also seen a boost in revenue that had been unattainable in recent months due to the pandemic.

“We’ve suffered from falling bar revenues, sponsorship deals, and other sources of income over these past couple of months,” said Crawshaw.

“We have, however, managed to put on some lunches during the internationals. It’s a ticketed event because there is a restriction on numbers. But we’re just trying to drive some money into the club in what are difficult times.

“Two or three weeks ago we also hosted a club touch tournament where we had about 65 people from our men’s, women’s, and third team playing touch rugby. It was a really good way of uniting the whole club and it’s definitely our intention to run more of those.

“Ultimately, if we can keep people engaged and part of our community, we will come out of this in a very positive manner once the season starts.”

“It’s been a challenging time as I assume it has been for all grassroots sport,” added Crawshaw.

“We’re constantly looking at how we can retain the players we currently have and hopefully attract some more at the same time.

“It’s very easy to go and play another competitive sport right now so we’re trying to keep everyone as positive and engaged with our club as possible.”