New Links with UCLan and Chorley RUFC proves valuable to the club

Christopher Neil Gunn Lecturer in the School of Sport and Wellbeing has recently set up links with Chorley RUFC for UCLan students to complete projects with them.

Chorley RUFC are an ambitious club moving to new facilities in the near future and our students have recently carried out recommendations for the club regarding school links, club strategy and policies and social media opportunities. The club was grateful for their research, input and recommendations from the students.

David Martin a member of the committee who is knowledgeable about business and management aspects and holds a significant role at Specsavers gave feedback to the results and how the club is finding their partnership with the University to be beneficial.

"The results from these recommendations and proposals from the students was extremely insightful and useful. As a result we have shifted our recruitment strategy, implemented a new mission statement, club value proposition and are bringing in a non-executive committee role as "community ambassador". These mission and values will be incorporated into our recruitment marketing. Our eye's have been opened to the opportunity of social media in terms of player recruitment and community engagement and we have appointed a social media manager to oversee all online presence, website management and social content."

"Overall, our collaboration with UCLan has been hugely valuable. The student's project has provided the raw research and data to give us a real insight into the opportunities we can exploit as an organisation. Furthermore, the practical nature of the recommendations enable us to make tangible differences in the way we work and ultimately, will support our future growth and development as a club. It is testament to the student's hard work that their recommendations have not only been taken on board but have also been turned into job appointments and key strategies. We wholeheartedly recommend any amateur sports club to work with UCLan and look forward to our continued relationship to help build our club's future."

A big well done to the student's involved Matt Davies, Catherine Savva, Andy Harrision and Chris Lane who all gained some excellent experience and enjoyed the challenge