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The Famous Grouse Characterful Clubhouse Fund

Clubs can receive up to £10,000 in funding towards a clubhouse enhancement, helping to create a space that can continue to serve its community for years to come.

The Characterful Clubhouse Fund

For more than 35 years, The Famous Grouse has partnered with Scottish Rugby, supporting the game and the communities that make it what it is. While the action happens on the pitch, the clubhouse is where rugby clubs come to life, filled with familiar faces, bringing together the local community.  

The Characterful Clubhouse Fund has been created to celebrate and support these much-loved spaces and the people who make them special. Through a Scotland-wide competition, rugby clubs will be invited to share what makes their clubhouse unique and the role it plays in bringing the community together to be in to win £10,000 in grant funding to make physical clubhouse improvements. 

Purpose of the fund

The club that can best evidence how their clubhouse brings people together – and how this grant would further support that – will win up to £10,000, with two further clubs winning runner up prizes.   

Grant funding must be spent on physical clubhouse improvements to publicly accessible parts of a club’s facilities – such a bar, lounge, terrace, dining area etc, spaces that anyone coming to the club can enjoy whether they are a family member of a player, the opposition team on match day or community members popping in for a drink.  

These clubhouse enhancements should make the club feel more hospitable, welcoming or functional for anyone visiting or using the facilities. 

Applications close on Tuesday 3 November 2026. 

By participating, all entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the terms and conditions. The entrant’s wider clubhouse members must also comply with the terms, where applicable.    

Apply for the fund

Fill out the form below to be in to win the grant funding, thanks to Famous Grouse. 

Enter your club now.  

Characterful Clubhouses series

Meryl Smith at Murrayfield Wanderers 

Meryl Smith visited her old clubhouse with her father Ed Smith, to remember the characters that made their early days at the club special. 

Pete and George Horne at Howe of Fife 

The Horne Brothers return to Howe of Fife to meet old friends and chat about the memories their family share from days spent at the clubhouse there. 

 

FAQs

  • How does my club apply for the Characterful Clubhouse fund?

    Applications are submitted to Scottish Rugby through the online entry form.  There is strictly one entry per club. Any duplicate entries will not be considered. 

    Club applications must be submitted by an authorised representative of the club who must be a to Scottish residents over the age of 18. 

  • What criteria will be used to judge my application?

    The criteria are based on the application questions, with the strongest responses being those which best meet the application criteria. Scottish Rugby is responsible for considering the applications and determining the fund award. Scottish Rugby reserve the right to apply eligibility criteria, and the granting of any funding awards will be based on any relevant criteria that Scottish Rugby may reasonably apply. 

  • When do applications open and close?

    Applications open on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 00:01 and close on Tuesday 3 November at 23.59.

  • When will I find out if my club is successful?

    Successful clubs will be notified via the email address attached to their application. Clubs will have 10 working days to acknowledge and accept the reward of funding before this will be withdrawn and offered to another club. 

    Winners will be announced publicly around Monday 23 November 2026. 

  • How and when will I receive the grant funding?

    The grant funding will be paid upon submission of proof of spend. This should be in the form of invoices or receipts and submitted to [email protected].

    Once submission has been made, payment will be made at the next available monthly payment run. Confirmation of payment date will be made once a claim has been processed.

  • How long do I have to make the improvements to the clubhouse outlined in my application?

    For the winning club, all improvements must be completed or within reasonable distance of completion by Friday 30 April 2027.

    For the two runner-up clubs, all improvements must be completed or within reasonable distance of completion by Friday 5 March 2027.

  • Is there a way that I need to spend this money?

    Grant funding must be spent on improvements to publicly accessible parts of a club’s clubhouse – such a bar, lounge, terrace etc. It may not be spent on areas not commonly used by the public such as changing rooms or team areas. 

  • What if my club doesn’t own or have a clubhouse?

    To be eligible to receive the grant funding, a club must either:

    Own their facility or

    Apply on behalf of a public body, such as local authorities, where the public body owns and operates the rugby club facility, and a long-term agreement is in place.

    If neither of these criteria are met, a club cannot apply.

  • Will my club need to do publicity once the grant funding has been spent?

    Yes, there is a requirement for any clubs receiving funding to take part in publicity once the clubhouse improvements are completed. This could include, but is not limited to, social media campaigns, photography, live events and recorded interviews for both Scottish Rugby and The Famous Grouse. 

    Successful clubs will participate in such social media, without charge, and grant both Scottish Rugby and The Famous Grouse the rights to use these photos, recordings, videos and/or films in any media and in any manner as they see fit.

Terms and Conditions

    • Eligibility and the granting of any funding awards will be based on any relevant criteria that Scottish Rugby may reasonably apply. See entry form for core eligibility criteria. 
    • If at any time you wish to withdraw from the promotion your request should be made in writing to Scottish Rugby at [email protected] who will respond within 5-7 business days. You request must be made prior to the end of the Promotional Period. 
    • Any entries received outside the Promotional Period shall not be valid for entry into this promotion. Illegible, incorrect and/or incomplete entries will not be accepted or eligible to be awarded the funding. No responsibility can be accepted for entries which are illegible, incorrect, incomplete, lost due to technical reasons, corrupted, delayed or not received for whatsoever reason. 
    • Scottish Rugby reserves the right to withhold funding from any successful application should the work detailed in copy invoices differ from the application details.  
    • Clubs that commence work prior to a funding decision being reached do so at their own risk and should not rely on funding being granted.  
    • The final amount of any award is at the discretion of Scottish Rugby and may be less than the amount requested in any application.  
    • All awards may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed at the discretion of Scottish Rugby. 
    • Successful clubs may not transfer the right to accept their award to another club. 
    • Neither Scottish Rugby, nor The Famous Grouse, accepts any liability for any consequences, whether direct or indirect, that may arise from the use of the grant, from any requested repayment of the grant, and/or from any application for the grant being declined.
    • Successful clubs must not do anything which could, in the reasonable opinion of The Famous Grouse and Scottish Rugby, bring either party or its brands into disrepute before, during or after this promotion. The Famous Grouse always encourages responsible drinking and encourages entrants to read http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/ for more information. 
    • In the event that Scottish Rugby is made aware of any inconsistencies or misrepresentations on an application form which lead to the provision of a grant to a club, Scottish Rugby reserves the right to request that such sums are repaid within timescales determined by Scottish Rugby (whether or not the club has already spent such a grant). In the event that such timescales are not met, Scottish Rugby reserves the right to deduct any sums owed from any future funding offered by Scottish Rugby, including without limitation the Club Sustainability Fund. 
    • If the club is not registered for VAT or is not in a position to have the costs zero-rated for VAT purposes (as is sometimes the case for charities approved by HMRC) it is essential that the VAT burden is included in the application costs. 
    • All personal data handled as part of the application will be handled in accordance with Scottish Rugby’s privacy notice. By participating in this promotion, all entrants understand the use of their personal data and confirm that they have read Scottish Rugby’s privacy policy.