St. Modwen Homes teams up with disadvantaged teenagers on the rugby pitch

St. Modwen Homes’ staff touched down on the rugby pitch to launch a new partnership with Dallaglio RugbyWorks, the charity set up by English rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio to help 14-16 year olds who have been excluded from mainstream education.

The year-long partnership will see the housebuilder provide funding for three rugby tournaments for Midlands’ teenagers, as well as match day t-shirts and volunteers to help out at each event. St. Modwen Homes will also be hosting employability taster days, to give the pupils essential workplace experience.

The inaugural tournament was held at Bournville Rugby Football Club, close to St. Modwen Homes’ popular Cofton Grange development and its head office in Longbridge. Pupils from seven schools in Birmingham, Coventry and Rugby, along with their coaches, ex-international players Aleki Lutui and Salesi Ma’fu, battled it out, with pupils from Birmingham’s Kings Centre winning the day. South Wigston High School in Leicester won the East Midlands tournament. All participants were presented with awards.

RugbyWorks is an intensive, long-term skills development programme based on the values of rugby, with the aim of steering teenagers outside of mainstream education into sustained education, employment or training.

Scott Waistell, Marketing Manager at St. Modwen Homes said: “We had great fun on the rugby pitch and it was brilliant to see the teenagers engaged and enjoying themselves. Congratulations to the tournament winners.

“We are really pleased to have joined forces with Dallaglio RugbyWorks and look forward to working with the teenagers again throughout the year. We are committed to supporting the communities in which we build and are particularly pleased to be bringing positive change for disadvantaged teenagers.”

Rachel Roxburgh, Chief Executive of the Dallaglio Foundation, added: “It’s fantastic to have St. Modwen Homes on board to provide opportunities that will help young people achieve their potential. Teenagers on our RugbyWorks programme are three times more likely to pass Maths and English Level 2 and twice as likely to still be in education, employment or training 12 months after leaving school, so it’s great to have St. Modwen Homes supporting our work.”

Cofton Grange, in Cofton Hackett, offers a range of three, four and five-bedroom homes close to the picturesque Lickey Hills Country Park and just a mile and a half from the vibrant new £100 million Longbridge town centre offering the best of rural and city living.