Greenock Wanderers RFC Secures Royal London Funding

Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual pensions, protection and investment provider has made its latest Championing Women’s & Girls Rugby Awards, in partnership with The British & Irish Lions with four more clubs across the home Unions getting an equal share of the £40k fund for 2025.

Greenock Wanderers Rugby Football Club has been named the Scottish Winner with this honour recognising the club’s commitment to growing women’s and girls’ rugby, fostering community spirit, and creating opportunities for players and coaches at every level.

The award, now in its second year, will provide funding to the latest cohort of successful clubs; Lancaster Lionesses (England), Buccaneers (Ireland), Greenock RFC (Scotland) and Ynysddu BG RFC (Wales). The Championing Women & Girls’ Rugby Award goes to a winning club in each home union who receive a trophy and a £10k grant to invest in their women and girls’ rugby programmes. The award is a flagship element of Royal London’s broader partnership with The British & Irish Lions includes a ‘Levelling the Playing Field’ investment of £3 million, designed to inspire more women and girls to participate in rugby and to foster equality and opportunity at every level of the game.

It was only two and a half years ago, that Greenock RFC launched their Girls Rugby programme to build a strong pipeline of young talent. Girls as young as seven and women into their late forties now play for Greenock Wanderers, with mothers and daughters sharing the pitch and players travelling from across the region to be part of their rugby family. They are committed to ensuring that the physical and financial barriers to joining the club are as low as possible.

They provide a Scholarship Programme which waives membership fees and buys kit for those who need it to participate. They try to encourage women who are having or have had children to stay in the sport for longer through their Maternity Policy for Players, which pauses their subscription payments whilst they are pregnant or on maternity leave, provides increased help from physios and coaches to return to playing safely, and provides a safe breastfeeding space at the club for both players and supporters.

Beverley Addison, Vice President of Rugby and Director of Women and Girls Rugby at Greenock Wanders, said: “Winning the Championing Women & Girls Rugby Award is not just an honour—it’s an opportunity. Women & Girls Rugby has become a cornerstone of Greenock Wanderers, and this award is a testament to the dedication of our players, coaches, volunteers, and supporters and the £10,000 grant will help us upskill our junior and senior players and coaches, enhance our facilities, and continue to provide a welcoming, supportive environment for all. Most importantly, it shows our girls that their dreams are supported not just by our club, but by the wider rugby community.

“From our humble beginnings 12 years ago, our Women’s Section has grown rapidly, now fielding both a 1XV and a 2XV team—the only club outside a major Scottish city to do so. Our ambition is to reach the Premiership within the next five years, and this recognition brings us a step closer to that goal. Our young girls now dream of being Lions, and it is just amazing to think that one day one of them might just get there. We could not be more thankful for this amazing award.”

Susie Logan, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Royal London comments: “As founding partner of The British & Irish Lions Women’s team, we’re proud to continue to work with the Lions on our Championing Women’s & Girls Rugby Awards. The decision of which club to award in each of the unions is getting more difficult as there are so many amazing applications. The amount of work, time and effort being put in across women’s and girls’ rugby clubs by coaches, players, parents and club volunteers is phenomenal. We are committed to nurturing sporting talent that will shape the future of women’s rugby, and I can’t wait to see what the winning clubs will do with the funds to make a difference to their players and their communities.”