For those that don’t already know our club runs a fantastic charity rugby 7s & netball tournament each year. We originally set it up to support a player in the club who sustained life changing injuries but it now raises funds for the RFU Injured Players Foundation and The Wooden Spoon children’s charity.

Spectator tickets can be purchased in advance here

A few years ago one of our players sustained a life changing injury whilst playing for our club. As you’d expect from any good rugby club we rallied round and did what we could to help. To start with invited a representative from the Injured Players Foundation (IPF) to come and talk to the committee and other members of the club. They were very helpful and informative and when we said we’d like to raise funds for our player they suggested a number of things including the 7s idea. Some individual members supported how they could as well. The main response from the club was indeed to set up a 7 aside competition with all the profits going to the player and the IPF.

To their credit the rugby community responded well and just about every club that we invited to attend agreed. Many of them, of course knew us and had played against our injured man.

The inaugural event was great success, and we ran it again the following year and continue to do so (apart from a brief interlude caused by Covid) It is no longer run for the benefit of our player though. After, with help from us, friends & family and the IPF he’d successfully managed to get his flat adapted, so that he could access it more easily he asked us to stop providing funds for him. He did ask us to continue to raise funds for rugby charity though. He put it like this “not everyone will have a club as good as Wimbledon and I’d like us to help those players too”

So now all the money we raise from tickets, raffles, donations, competitions etc. is split between the IPF and The Wooden Spoon. The spoon is a rugby inspired charity that helps children in need and particularly children with disabilities. Given we are one of the few clubs to offer a rugby group for children with special educational needs and disabilities this seemed like a good fit.

So that’s what we do. The event is now well established in the rugby 7s calendar and many of the same teams come back year on year. It is actually 4 competitions in one. There is an elite men’s league and knockout plus similar format for “social” men and a woman’s competition. If possible, we’ll run two women’s competitions too. Alongside the rugby there is also a fair-sized netball competition as well.

As well as all the sports we have various food outlets and outside bars, music playing and generally a carnival or festival atmosphere. After the prize giving at the end of all the games, we have a party with disco and a live band, and much jollity is had by all I can tell you.