Hampshire RFU Helping Shape New South Central Regional Growth Partnership

Hampshire RFU has welcomed the appointment of Andy Dunkley as the first Chair of the RFU’s new South Central Regional Growth Partnership Board, as the new regional structure designed to support the growth of community rugby continues to develop.

The South Central Board is one of seven new Regional Growth Partnership Boards being established across England by the RFU. Their purpose is to bring together rugby and wider regional partners to identify opportunities to grow participation, attract additional investment and strengthen the support available to the community game.

Hampshire RFU has been actively involved in the South Central partnership from its early stages, with our Chair, Neil McRoberts, contributing to the recruitment of the new independent Chair and other key roles within the emerging regional team.

With the wider make-up of the Board still being developed, Hampshire RFU is also contributing to discussions about how the partnership should be structured and how the voice and experience of the community game can be effectively represented.

What are the Regional Growth Partnership Boards?

For many club volunteers, the Regional Growth Partnership Boards will be new.

Seven boards are being established across England as part of changes to how the RFU supports the growth of community rugby. Their focus is specifically on growth – bringing more people into rugby and creating the partnerships and investment that can support that ambition.

They are intended to bring together people from within rugby alongside expertise and organisations from outside the game, helping regions identify opportunities that might be difficult to unlock at individual club or county level.

This could include attracting new funding and investment, developing partnerships, identifying new playing opportunities and coordinating activity where working across a wider geography makes sense.

Importantly, Hampshire RFU sees the Regional Growth Partnership as being additive to the work already taking place through clubs, Constituent Bodies and the thousands of volunteers who deliver the game.

It should create new opportunities and additional capacity – not another layer of complexity for our clubs.

Hampshire helping shape the new partnership

Hampshire RFU has been involved in developing the South Central arrangements from the outset, rather than simply waiting for the new structure to be established.

In addition to assisting the RFU with the recruitment of key roles in the regional set-up, Hampshire RFU Chair Neil McRoberts has been asked by the RFU to join a small, informal group of five Constituent Body (CB) Chairs, set up to provide ongoing feedback and counsel as the change process gets under way.

That involvement continues to place Hampshire RFU at the forefront of understanding, and helping shape, how this new initiative is rolled out, including the key discussions around the wider composition of the Board.

Hampshire RFU believes this ongoing contribution will help ensure the partnership combines the right expertise, connections and understanding of the community game – and, ultimately, the best possible outcome for our members.

The Regional Growth Partnership will cover a large and diverse area, and its success will ultimately be judged by whether it can translate regional thinking into tangible opportunities for clubs and participants.

Neil McRoberts, Chair of Hampshire RFU, said:

“There is a real opportunity through the Regional Growth Partnership to bring additional expertise, investment and relationships into rugby, and Hampshire has been pleased to play an active part in its development.

The important principle for us is that this should be additive. We already have strong clubs, volunteers and a clear strategy to deliver and grow rugby locally. The opportunity is to build around that – unlocking partnerships, investment and opportunities that can help us collectively grow the game.”

Connecting regional opportunity with our Hampshire strategy

Our involvement is also about ensuring the opportunities created through the new regional structure can support the ambitions already established through our Hampshire RFU Strategy 2025–2028 – Building a Stronger Rugby Future Together.

Our strategy gives Hampshire rugby a clear direction: to unite and empower our rugby community, grow participation, increase investment and resources, and make the best possible use of the time and talent of our volunteers.

That means we are approaching the Regional Growth Partnership with a clear understanding of what we want to achieve locally.

We want to explore where working regionally can help us reach more people, develop new partnerships, secure additional investment or provide expertise and capacity that would otherwise not be available to our clubs.

Where those opportunities exist, we want Hampshire to be well positioned to maximise them.

Local priorities, regional opportunity

The creation of a new regional structure does not change Hampshire RFU’s priorities.

Our starting point remains the needs of our clubs, players and volunteers and the commitments set out within our Strategy 2025–2028.

The opportunity presented by the South Central Regional Growth Partnership is to add to that work.

By being involved during its development – from helping recruit its leadership through to shaping the emerging Board – Hampshire RFU can help ensure that the new partnership remains connected to the realities of community rugby while also bringing new thinking, relationships and resources into the game.

There is still work to do before the South Central structure is complete, and we will continue to keep our clubs updated as it develops.

But our ambition is clear: to play an active role in shaping the partnership and to make the most of every opportunity it creates, helping rugby in Hampshire deliver our vision for a stronger rugby future together.

Further reading:
RFU: Chairs appointed to seven new Regional Growth Partnership Boards

Hampshire RFU Strategy 2025–2028