Royal London and The British & Irish Lions continue to invest in women's and girls’ grassroots rugby with latest £40k award

• The 2026 Championing Women and Girls' Rugby Award recognises a club from each of the four Home Unions with £10k grants to support their work in women's and girls' rugby.
• The award, in its third year, has now provided £120k in funding to grassroots rugby across the UK and Ireland.
• Royal London is also investing £3 million into elite women's rugby across the four home unions through the 'Levelling the Playing Field Grant'

Royal London, the UK's largest customer-owned pensions, protection and investment company has announced the latest winners of its Championing Women & Girls' Rugby Award, in partnership with The British & Irish Lions, with four more clubs across the Home Unions getting an equal share of the £40k fund for 2026. The grants demonstrate Royal London's commitment as Founding Partner of the first Lions Women's Team to invest in grassroots rugby and support the next generation of future Lions Women's players.

The Championing Women & Girls' Rugby Award, now in its third year, will provide funding to; Keswick RFC (England), Fethard & District RFC (Ireland), Caithness RFC (Scotland) and Clwb Rygbi Y Bala (Wales), who each receive a trophy and a £10k grant to invest in their rugby programmes.

The Championing Women and Girls' Rugby Award goes to a club in each Home Union that has broken down barriers for women's and girls' rugby through inclusion policies, community outreach and a desire to bring more women and girls into the game. Each of the awarded clubs have impressive programmes to grow their footprint and opportunities for women and girls to play in their local area.

Keswick RFC – Cumbria, England

Keswick has ambitions to grow and develop the quality of its women's and girls' rugby offering and the funding will support the development of a new indoor Performance and Development Hub. Through the conversion of a tired and under used squash court, the club will have a dedicated year-round facility that will enable women and girls in Keswick and the surrounding area to hone their rugby skills, strength and fitness. It will feature sports flooring and specialist training kit as well as audio-visual equipment for performance reviews. It will provide indoor rugby skills sessions during the winter and will also facilitate strength and conditioning training, female health and nutrition workshops, and coach and referee development programmes.

Fethard & District RFC – Tipperary, Ireland

Fethard is working towards establishing the club's first-ever women's team to help build an enduring pathway that will allow girls to continue their rugby journey in the region as senior women's players. Having grown from 20 to over 120 players since the club's first girls' team was formed in 2011, Fethard & District RFC has built a strong girls rugby pathway. To support further expansion the club's focus is to create a clear transition from youth to adult rugby through the development of the club's first-ever women's team. This award will support this ambition by helping to strengthen player retention beyond U18 level, developing young female leaders through coaching and refereeing as well as supporting player welfare and athlete development.

Caithness RFC – Thurso, Scotland

Despite the club's rural location, Caithness RFC already provides a structured and developing pathway for girls, beginning with early participation and extending through to senior rugby. While the women's game continues to grow locally, the club will use this funding to actively strengthen the transition between junior and senior levels to ensure a complete and sustainable pathway and enhance player retention. The club is also focused on inclusion and increasing the number of women in leadership, coaching and referee positions. Coaches utilise adaptable, player centred approaches across all age groups to support different learning styles, abilities, and confidence levels.

Clwb Rygbi Y Bala – Gwynedd, Wales

Impressive growth in Bala RFC's women's and girls' rugby and its commitment to continued expansion in membership will be supported by this funding to develop facilities that will better accommodate its increasing membership. There are now more registered female players than male players and the grant will allow the club to invest in its set-up so they can continue to deliver high-quality rugby experiences for all its women's and girls' players. It will also support the expansion of coaching and refereeing capacity to meet the needs of its rapidly developing programme, alongside creating opportunities to identify and mentor women and girls who wish to develop their skills, take on new responsibilities or progress into committee and operational roles.

Susie Logan, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Royal London, comments:

"This award demonstrates our commitment to women's and girls' rugby as the Founding Partner of The British & Irish Lions Women's Team. We're immensely proud to support the important work being done by clubs across the UK and Ireland to grow women and girls' rugby.

"The popularity of the award this year was phenomenal with a 56% increase in entries. The time, effort and passion being invested across women's and girls' rugby clubs by coaches, players, parents and a raft of volunteers is clear to see and is why we remain committed to playing our part in shaping the future of women's rugby.  

"Congratulations to the winners who will now have an opportunity to do even more great work in their local communities and further develop the grassroots experience for their players."

The Championing Women & Girls' Rugby Award is a flagship element of Royal London's sponsorship as Founding Partner of the first ever British & Irish Lions Women's Team.  One winning club in each home union receives a trophy and £10k to invest in their women's and girls' rugby programmes. Royal London is also investing £3 million into elite women's rugby across the four home unions through the 'Levelling the Playing Field Grant' to drive positive, long-term change for women's rugby through development that supports women's player and coach pathways.