Despite strong feelings of community and satisfaction with quality of life from local residents, Redruth Rugby is situated in one of the most deprived areas of the country, adding an extra hurdle against the academic achievements and employment prospects of local young people. The recent economic recession has only made a bad situation worse, making the prospect of find work more remote for many of the area’s young people.

Redruth Rugby has always offered youngsters a great pathway to confidence and discipline, whilst building important teamwork skills, through it’s Mini-Junior rugby programme. Kids can participate in the scheme from the age of 7 upwards, finding friends for life whilst playing a great sport, and the process is continued into our country-leading Colts teams.

The Academy system is the natural extension of Redruth Rugby’s devotion to youth development. In partnership with Redruth School, the Academy encourages 16-18 year olds to stay at college and continue their academic development whilst pursuing their potential sporting careers.

However, playing rugby is not to everyone’s tastes, and Redruth Rugby is now offering a range of alternative support schemes to help young people bolster their knowledge and CVs to make them more competitive in the Cornwall and national jobs market.

Firstly, Redruth Rugby is run almost entirely by volunteers, and there is always plenty of projects – both traditional and cutting-edge -  which need fresh volunteers to help with. Volunteering always looks great on any CV, and can often be the distinguishing factor between similar candidates. The club is able to offer a range of volunteering opportunities to suit any skill set: visit our Volunteering Opportunities page to find out what’s available.

Secondly, the club is launching a set of modern journalism courses. The Redruth Rugby Sports Reporter courses will be aimed at anyone between the ages of 8-18, and will aim to provide skills not just relevant to budding journos but for anyone working in front of a computer in any capacity… so pretty much anyone! The short courses will focus on 5 key themes:

• Research – using the Internet to find out more about your subject
• Audiences – who are you trying to talk to, what will interest them, and what do you want them to do?
• Images – using free software to manipulate images
• Writing – formatting options and linking for online content
• Promotion – how to bring your audience to your content

The starter courses will start with the basic concepts, and later courses will expand into more technical areas. Participants completing the courses will receive a pass certificate, and a graduation day will be planned towards the end of the season. For more information, contact Ross at