Local Rugby Club on the Brink of Sporting Jackpot

London, United Kingdom, September 17, 2008 --(PR.com)-- London’s Charlton Park Youth Rugby Club is currently within the top four of the Norwich Union Community Sports Fund national standings and aims to use this strong position to push towards the life changing £50,000 top prize. With London 2012 around the corner this vital funding will aid in nurturing grass roots disabled talent and provide facilities that allow each youngster the chance to engage in sport at all levels.

This years Norwich Union Community Sport Fund has already generated over 60,000 votes nationwide. The Charlton Park Youth Rugby Club is one of several regional initiatives competing for cash prizes, and with the closing date drawing near every vote is now vital. Schemes across the country are counting on the public to help them win the £12,500 Silver prize, which can only be achieved by them receiving the most votes in their region.

Voting takes place on a dedicated website – www.joinourteam.com – where details of all the local initiatives can be found via a postcode finder mechanic. Supporters can register their vote from now until 14 September 2008 when the final votes will be counted. The 12 Silver award winners then will each be considered for the £50,000 Gold prize, the winner of which is decided by a panel of judges and announced in October.

Based in Kidbrooke, London - a deprived area mainly consisting of families on low-incomes, benefits and single parents - Charlton Park Youth Rugby Club offers young people a place to develop not only their rugby but their character, confidence, self-respect, responsibility and skills which they take forward into adult life. There is also a large diversity of cultures both within the area and the club. Making rugby fun is paramount, whilst getting youngsters off the street and into sport.

Olympian Darren Campbell, the Norwich Union Community Sports Fund Ambassador, comments on the 2008 scheme: ‘The beauty of the Norwich Union Community Sports Fund is that it gives the funding power directly to the public. The Charlton Park Youth Rugby Club clearly has the full weight of the local community behind it and needs only a few more votes to make that last push for the top prize. The number of votes cast this year across the UK reminds me of the wealth of talent that this country has to offer.’

Tanya Veingard, Head of Sponsorship at Norwich Union, said: ‘This is a unique opportunity for the public to cast their vote and secure funding for their favourite local sporting initiative. Norwich Union is making half a million pounds available for sport and putting it in the hands of the public. The aim of this scheme is to make it easier for the public to make a real difference to sporting development in their community. I hope people nationwide will join our team and work with us in making sport the real winner in 2008.’

###