Devon & Cornwall Police News site

Liskeard Looe Girls Rugby Club has broken its latest fundraising target with Devon & Cornwall Police amongst their latest supporters.

The girl’s youth club with members aged between 11 and 17 has now raised over £6,740 through its community crowdfunding project, and a welcome £750 has been given direct to the club, which brings their current fundraising total to £7,490.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (CIOS) police team provided £750 through the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) after they shared their aim to give more young people in Cornwall an opportunity to be more active. The purpose of Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) is to deprive a convicted criminal of any financial benefit that they may have made through their crimes; funds are reinvested in local community projects.

Cornwall Council provided £1100 through the Council Community Chest fund and Sport England provided £2500 of the total thought their Active together fund. The rest was raised through a wide range of support from local businesses and the community benefiting from rewards, cake sales organised by the girls, a match day car wash and the wide support of the community getting behind the team.

The club which now has on average 33 young people training each week, has grown steadily since it was first set up a few years ago with just 4 participants.

A spokesperson for Devon & Cornwall Police who plays women’s rugby said: “I only started played rugby as an adult and I wish I could have known more about clubs and had the opportunity to play when I was younger. Playing rugby has given me a sense of confidence I never thought I would have. I have grown as a person and a player over the years and rugby has been one of the main reasons why. It has given me lifelong friendships, focus, drive and a strong sense of comradery. I am inspired by the women I play with, the players you see in the higher leagues and on the international stage. What I love about rugby is that to play it you can be any shape or size, come from any background, if you have passion, drive and your teammates behind you, you can take on any challenge thrown at you, on or off the pitch.

“It’s fantastic that the club have hit their fundraising target and it’s amazing to see so many girls playing and looking to get involved in the sport. I hope that the future women and girls of rugby can keep the positivity and strong sense of community in the sport alive. With the generosity shown by the fundraising efforts, by all involved, into grass roots rugby gives younger people the best opportunities within the sport I would like to think this will help to support the players, inspire the younger generation, encourage more people to get involved in the sport and continue to be involved in the future.”

Head coach of Liskeard Looe Girls Rugby Club, Zoe Alee said: “Thanks to the police and our supporters, we will be buying equipment including tackle pads and donuts for training, balls and new rugby kit strips. To make our training and club as inclusive as possible we provide players with a kit each, we ask those leaving or moving groups to return their old kit so we can recycle and reuse to invest back into the club where we can.

“The fundraising total which has been smashed on more than one occasion now means we can get on with organising our summer outreach. We aim to double the number of girls training in the club. We will visit schools to set up taster sessions to give them a flavour of what being in the club is like. There are currently no girl’s rugby teams in Bodmin and Saltash, we also have girls coming from Wadebridge, and girls can join mixed training with Liskeard Looe Lions from age 7 so we're excited about how the club can grow.

“To keep stretching and training our current members, specialist training sessions will be arranged for areas like kicking conversions paid for from the fundraising and we'll be building their fitness and team connections throughout the summer through activities and training sessions. Women in Sport’s recent report highlighted that more than 1 million girls in the UK lose interest in sport after leaving primary school; we are keen to address this to get girls into sports and to also build confidence after a tough few years for everyone. We welcome new players are also looking for new coaches to join the club so please get in touch if this is of interest.”

The club which is open to girls aged between 11-17 in the areas of Southeast Cornwall. If anyone is interested in joining, they can visit our Facebook page Liskeard Looe Girls Rugby or email llrfcgirlscrowdfunder@outlook.com and we'll get back to you quickly.

ENDS