Issue 64 Autumn Rugby Post. In this issue: P1 Local Festivals P9 NFL at Twickenham P11 Womens World Cup

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1 Issue 64 Autumn 2017 Rugby Post In this issue: P1 Local Festivals P9 NFL at Twickenham P11 Womens World Cup

2 Local Festivals It s been a busy summer in Twickenham, with lots of local fairs and community projects making the most of the relatively good weather. Here are some of the things which we have been up to. Twickenham Festival St Margaret s Fair Twickenham Police Station Open Day Hounslow Community Day 1

3 Good Luck to England Sevens It s a big year for England Sevens as they start the 2017/18 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, building up to the World Cup in San Francisco. Whitton Alley Gates The RFU has teamed up with the Metropolitan Police to pay for the installation of alley gates in the back lanes of Whitton. Since similar gates were installed in St Margarets, crime levels have dropped substantially and we hope that this will reduce burglaries in the area and deter moped and bike theft, which is a rising issue across London and something which the police are actively targeting. PC Dean Smith, who has been instrumental in getting the gates installed, said, Alley gates have proved to be an effective way to reduce crime in the back alleys which we have here in Whitton. We live in one of the safest areas of London, but we are always wanting to target perennial issues such as burglary and bike/scooter theft. The gates have been paid for by the RFU following the World Cup Legacy Fund installations in St Margaret s, and installed by Powerhouse to a bespoke design. Residents can purchase keys for the gates for 3 each. We hope that these will make residents feel safer and deter any unauthorised access. 2

4 Queen s Award for Bridgelink! We were delighted to hear that one of our partner organisations, Bridgelink, has won The Queen s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities. The RFU has supported Bridgelink for some time, with new kitchens installed as a World Cup Legacy Project, and funding provided this year for ongoing community work in Ivybridge and classes for local residents wanting to learn a new skill. In addition, the centre hots a Citizens Advice Bureau and other access points for council services. The Award is due recognition of the work done by the staff and volunteers there and we send our warmest congratulations. Tempo Tots The RFU supported Tempo Tots this summer, which is a music based holiday programme for young children, delivered in Twickenham for children in local schools. Demand for exceeded capicity and a great time was had by all. 3

5 Grenfell Tower Thank You We were honoured to be invited to a civic reception at Hounslow Council hosted by the Mayor, Cllr Sue Sampson, to honour the emergency services who demonstrated such bravery and professionalism during and after the fire at Grenfell Tower in June. Hounslow Fire Brigade Commander, Greg Ashman, was presented with a Commendation from Police Commander, Raj Kohli. 4

6 Integrated Neurological Services The RFU has been a major sponsor of the services provided in Twickenham by INS to help local people who have experienced neurological conditions such as strokes, Parkinson s and other illnesses which have impaired motor skills. Classes are run to help develop muscles and memory. Twickenham Rotary Club This summer we were delighted to host the Twickenham Rotary Club for their annual Bridge tournament. The event was very well attended and enjoyed and you can find out more information at and search for Twickenham. Carmen 25th November, 2/3rd December, Ormond Opera will be staging their performance of Carmen. The RFU have been pleased to financially support this event, which has seen local people recruited for both on stage and backstage roles to give them experience of working in theatre and production. You can buy tickets and find out more on their website at Queensbridge Garden Project Queensbridge Park backs onto the Cardinal Vaughan playing fields which are used during matches, so is one of our nearest neighbours. The street has an active residents association and we were delighted to help when asked to sponsor a small community garden there. 5

7 Duke of Northumberland s River The RFU are delighted to announce that, following discussions with Richmond Council, we have agreed to move our fence along the western perimeter of the ground to allow construction by Richmond Council of a walkway between Chase Bridge and Whitton Dene. The path will be of a similar standard to the one between the Twickenham Stoop and Chase Bridge and will fill a missing link in the network. The path is fully funded from the Big Green Fund, which was set up by former Mayor, Boris Johnson, for projects in London s green spaces and corridors. Due to a large colony of water voles living adjacent to the ground, input has been necessary from Natural England to ensure that their habitat is not unduly impacted by the path and increased usage, and they will work with Richmond Council during the construction process. Chris took Whitton Cllr Gareth Elliott and Isleworth Cllr Ed Mayne on a walk up the path to show them what would be done. We look forward to working with all our partners in this project to create a great community facility. The Vineyard Project This year the RFU is working closely with the Vineyard Project, based in Richmond, which helps homeless people in the borough get back on their feet. We aim to help raise money and donations to them, please do visit their website 6

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9 NFL at Twickenham 8

10 NFL at Twickenham Following last year s successful NFL match at Twickenham, American Football returns this autumn (or should we say fall). The matches will be on Sunday 22nd October, when Arizona Cardinals play the Los Angeles Rams at 1800, and Sunday 29th October, when Minnesota Vikings take on Cleveland Browns at Expected attendances are around 76,000 for each match, and the timings have been staggered to minimise disruptions to churchgoers and local businesses on consecutive weekends following feedback from last year. We are working very closely with Try Twickenham, the Twickenham Business Association, Whitton Business Association, Chamber of Commerce and local councillors and groups to ensure that some events take place outside the stadium at appropriate times and locations which will help the local residents get involved should they wish to, and encourage match goers to make a weekend of it and stay in the borough to visit some of our outstanding attractions and boost the local economy. In addition, NFL will be visiting local schools to tell children about the sport and help out with some sporting activities. Event Day Traffic North of the A316 If you live on Whitton or Rugby Roads between Chase Bridge and the Tesco Roundabout, these roads will be closed from on 22nd October, and on 29th October. There will be no food or drink outlets on the street this year and a path will be kept free for emergency service vehicles. If you need to access your street, please approach from Chase Bridge. More details will be sent to residents by letter. South of the A316 We aim to keep the roads south of the A316 open where at all possible, however these may have to close if crowds become too dense for the pavements to cope on Whitton Road. Please for live updates. All areas Please note that the CPZ will operate all day on these days, so please display your permits to help the wardens from Richmond and Hounslow Councils. We will have a no bag policy at these events for security, and if you are walking close to the stadium you may be reminded about this by stewards. If you are a local resident then there is no restriction on you carrying any bags; the stewards are only there to remind fans that that they won t be allowed to take them into the stadium. In light of the Twickenham Station redevelopment, we will have extra shuttle buses departing for Waterloo to speed up the departure of fans, and outdoor stalls will be reminded that noise should be kept to minimum on egress, especially on the Sunday evening. 9

11 Trains You will no doubt be aware of some major engineering work on the lines through Twickenham, Whitton, St Margarets, Isleworth and Hounslow at this time. Network Rail is carrying out platform extension and track replacement at London Waterloo, Britain s busiest station, seeing almost 100million passengers per year. In addition, Twickenham station is being rebuilt and redeveloped to bring it up to modern standards. This obviously has had an impact on England Rugby, as the majority of our supporters travel to the stadium via Twickenham station. The things most relevant to residents are: We have had to schedule our autumn matches on the weeks from 22nd October through to 25th November to avoid essential building works at Waterloo and Twickenham stations. We cannot queue fans in the car park to wait for trains after a match, meaning that the queue could stretch further up Whitton Road We cannot route westbound passengers over the ramp from London Road to platform 5, as this has been demolished. We have tried to mitigate these issues by: Holding the NFL matches at different times on Sundays Having a lower capacity match on 4th November Looking at what extra measures may be necessary to handle longer queues Working with the station developers and South Western Railways to design as efficient a plan as possible for matchday travel Encouraging passengers to use Whitton and Hounslow stations Making more use of the bus shuttles to Richmond, Hounslow and Central London. Keeping December and the run up to Christmas completely free for residents following feedback 10

12 Womens World Cup The Red Roses did England proud in the Womens World Cup held this year in Ireland, reaching the final against New Zealand. In recognition of their achievement, they travelled to 10 Downing Street for a reception with Prime Minister Theresa May. England were beaten in the final by New Zealand in Belfast in an enthralling final where a peak audience of 2,651,000 million people were watching the game. Captain Sarah Hunter and her squad were in attendance with England Women s cricket team who lifted their World Cup earlier this summer. It s fantastic to be at Downing Street and to share in what is a fantastic celebration of women s sport alongside the England cricketers, said Hunter. With both teams going deep into tournaments this summer, PM May said their efforts can have a lasting effect on their sports. You are trailblazers, ambassadors, pioneers and now a part of British sporting history, she said. So together lets ensure that your legacy is not just Britain s sporting history but also a fundamental part of shaping Britain for millions of young women and generations to come. 11

13 East Stand The East Stand continues on time and on budget. The main structure is now in place and the work to install floors and ultimately cladding should be complete by Christmas. There will then follow an internal fit out. The stand will be completed for the Old Mutual Wealth Series in Autumn Work Experience Five of our partnership schools receive two work experience placements each year from the RFU. This year we welcomed these students to Twickenham where they saw the wide variety of roles within the organisation. Students whose interests ranged from construction to IT spent time at the stadium and it was a pleasure having them. We are working on an additional scheme to show more local students the range of careers which they could have in a sporting organisation. Grassroots Rugby Many residents follow on Facebook and Twitter for news and updates on the game and local events, but now you can keep in touch with what is going on in the grassroots game This is the official England Rugby account which is dedicated to celebrating the grassroots game. We have many local clubs which offer the chance for amateur and social rugby, such as Twickenham, Old Isleworthians, London Scottish, Richmond, Harlequins and Whitton Lions, and you can find out where and how you can give the game a try (or get back involved) at 12

14 Rugby Store refresh The RFU has teamed up with Fanatics to expand and improve our retail offering at the Rugby Store and Fanatics are an extremely experienced and well regarded company who will now take over the running of the shop and all retail here at Twickenham. The Rugby Store has already had a refresh and will undergo a major refurbishment in early Pop down and have a look the shop is open (Mon-Sat) and (Sun). Join our Team! England Rugby recently hosted a recruitment day at Twickenham to fill casual roles in our retail, stewarding, hospitality and volunteering sections. It was very successful with over 250 people attending and 120 recruited. This is a great way to gain experience or just do something which you enjoy. We are keen to get as many local people recruited as possible. The RFU provides between 2,500 and 3,000 local jobs on matchdays, so come and join our team! Visit 13

15 Cabbage Patch Ten At 10am on October 15th 2017 The Cabbage Patch 10 returns to the streets of Twickenham. The RFU is proud to be a sponsor for this long running (!) tradition. Twickenham's 36 year old longest standing race is flat, fast and beautiful passing Kingston, Ham and Richmond. It is a race that attracts elite, club and passionate runners alike. Mo Farah won it in It is not unusual to see the great Olympians running this event along with the first timer. The race was founded in 1982 and has raised over 110,000 for Clarendon School plus other charities. It is now also helping MDS Patient Support Group based at Kings Hospital raising money and awareness of Myelodisplastic Syndrome. They are fantastically and generously supported by many businesses in the community and by two local running clubs The Stragglers Running Club and The Bearcat Running Club based at The Turks Head pub St Margarets. To learn more please visit their website 14

16 Events Schedule 2017 We expect matches to conclude around 1 hour 35 minutes after kick off, subject to extra time. Full CPZ will be operation for all matches except Varsity and RFU Cup Finals. Date Match Start Time Attendance Sun 22nd Oct NFL ,000 Sun 29th Oct NFL ,000 Sat 04th Nov Barbarians v New Zealand 15:00 65,000 Sat 11th Nov England v Argentina 15:00 82,000 Sat 18th Nov England v Australia 15:00 82,000 Sat 25th Nov England v Samoa 15:00 82,000 Thurs 07th Dec Varsity match Awaits 35,000 Sat 30th Dec Big Game 10 Awaits 82,000 * The next fixture will be England v Wales on Saturday 10th February 2018 Start times for Varsity and Big Game 10 will be publicised on and on Facebook as well as englandrugby.com and local media. NB. Events subject to change/others may be added. Stadium gates open approximately 4 hours before KO. For latest information please visit Match day community hotline: (Operates from 2 hours before kick off to 2 hours after final whistle) Richmond parking hotline: RFU ticket office: englandrugby.com/tickets Community Contact Should you wish to contact the RFU Community Relations Officer, please TwickenhamCommunity@rfu.com Rugby Football Union. The RFU Rose and the words England Rugby are official registered trade marks of the Rugby Football Union.