Join former Exeter Chiefs player Don Armand on an extraordinary journey to Zimbabwe with the Tag Rugby Trust this September !

After two seasons since hanging up his boots, Don has been far from idle, recently completing his second London Marathon amongst other things.

Now, he’s inviting up to 16 members of the rugby community to join him on a nine-day adventure unlike any other. From community rugby coaching to wildlife safaris, this trip offers a unique opportunity to give back while experiencing the natural beauty of Zimbabwe.

If you’re ready to be part of something truly special, request an info pack and join Don in making a difference in Zimbabwe – email : DonsTour@tagrugbytrust.co.uk

Want to learn more about TRT in Zimbabwe before committing, watch this short video to get a feel for what they do – www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYOglgy31Qg&t=10s

We’re thrilled to share an inspiring story of generosity and community spirit ! David Catlow, Chairman of Bath RFC Minis, recently reached out to us with an incredible offer: 70 small-sized club shirts. Without hesitation, we accepted this generous donation.

Back in 2015, we received some Bath tops, so it was nice to be continuing the story nine years on. With this latest donation, we’re excited to give these shirts a new lease of life in Zimbabwe.

Here in the UK, there’s often unused kit lying around, while in Zimbabwe, many players train and play in cotton t-shirts. That’s where initiatives like this make a real difference. When clubs send us their old gear, preferably in small sizes, we’re thrilled to see them put to good use on the rugby fields of Zimbabwe.

Of particular value to us are sets of 10 playing tops and shorts. These items are invaluable for our players, really making them feel part of a “team” and giving them something to belong to.

Thank you to Bath RFC Minis for their incredible generosity and support. Together, we’re making a real difference in the lives of rugby players in Zimbabwe, proving that the spirit of rugby knows no boundaries !

TRT Zimbabwe target over 20 community food production projects to be started in 2021.

2021 saw the launch of TRT Zimbabwes “food security in the community” project. All 80 of the Community Clubs were given the opportunity to demonstrate their readiness to take on a project that will help their community to sustainably produce food and for the young club members to play an active role in the set up and operation of the scheme. The Atlas Foundation have joined Old Mutual and Freddie’s Flowers in supporting the initiative.

Successful community clubs have been awarded a grant to construct a community food production facility in their community. Initially, with the help of National Foods, we have focussed on creating broiler chicken enclosures sufficient for 50 birds. In time we will also be looking at layer programmes, rabbits, maize production and possibly crickets (the insects).

None of this would be possible without the combined support of our fantastic sponsors, the Atlas Foundation, Freddies Flowers and Old Mutual. All three saw the obvious impact that COVID restrictions had on the livlihoods of the families in the high density areas of Zimbabwe and threw their support behind our initiative.

In March this year Freddie’s Flowers were really excited to finalise the details of their first sustainability project partnership. Working with the Tag Rugby Trust (TRT) in Zimbabwe we have committed to supporting three specific community programmes in 2021 namely; funding the expansion of a female empowerment initiative, launching a street child programme in Bulawayo and Harare and finally to fund a five-site pilot project for small-scale community food production.

The sustainability team at Freddie’s were thrilled by the child centric, community engaged approach taken by TRT in all its work. Tinashe Shamu, Country Director for TRT in Zimbabwe, and his team are already getting active on all three of the Freddie’s Flowers projects. We will share more detailed information on the progress of their work with our customers throughout the year via social media posts and updates on the Freddie’s Flowers sustainability web pages.

In May this year Freddie’s Flowers & TRT will be announcing the details of an opportunity for their customers to get involved first hand … watch this space !

If you’d like to learn more about the partnership work, please contact info@tagrugbytrust.co.uk

TRT Zimbabwe is thrilled to announce the completion of the “TAG Ekhaya” nesteled next to The Hub at Harare Sports Ground. Ekhaya, an Ndebele word for “home”, is a converted shipping container. It has been modified to provide an office, secure storage and has a viewing platform on its roof ideal for watching rugby at HSC.

Since the opening of The Hub we have hosted a broad range of training and development events in the ground floor multi-purpose training room. Many of these have been to deliver TRT core training courses. We have also had corporates hire the facility for off-site management meetings, product launches and more recently to hold socially distanced board meetings. It has seen everything from the introduction to tag rugby Coach Level 1 to training on seeting up and running a chicken broiler project.

One challenge we had before the TAG Ekhaya was completed was interruptions to courses and meetings in The Hub by staff and volunteers going about their day to day work. Whilst this wasn’t a frequent issue, it meant we weren’t offering an ideal setting for the kind of meetings and events at The Hub. The completion of the TAG Ekhaya has solved that problem and we hope makes The Hub an even more attractive location for volunteer training and corporate events alike.

If you want to have a look around or book an event at The Hub contact tinashe@tagrugbytrust.co.uk

The Southern region tag rugby finals were held at Hartsfield on 7 December 2018. Ten teams participated in these finals. These were Victoria Springboks, Ingagula from Hwange, Bulldogs from Cowdry Park Bulawayo, Sogwala from Gweru, Budiriro from Gweru, Hallam from Plumtree, Brumbles from Bulawayo and Mpofini from Esigodini.

The tournament started soon after the welcome note at 0900 by Wonder which was followed by Lord’s prayer, national Anthem and some presentations. All teams played with great determination, everyone working hard to try and

win the tournament. It was a clash of giants, no team was a push up in this final. A team from Hwange proved to be the giant of the giants on the field of play as it was a hard nut to crack. The giants were reduced to size and were finally termed by Ingagula. This left the defending champions speechless and with no option but to surrender the floating trophy to the Ingagula. The new champions were now walking in air. A leap for joy was seen amongst the winners.
An interview which was conducted by Patrick Ngwenya to the winning coach Mr Joseph Ndlovu on the secret of their success showed that he had thoroughly preprared for that final. He explained that they trained almost every day. He said he was over the moon because of their victory. The Head of Sogwala Primary also expressed her profound gratitude to the ZimbabweTag Rugby Trust for introducing tag rugby in her community as it has brought about positive behavior charge amongst the pupils. One of the things she mentioned was the community work which her school was doing which has positively, impacted on their community.

She recommended that more tag rugby courses should be conducted in Lower Gweru so that more schools participate in this sport. Finally I want to thank the TRT, Old Mutual and other sponsors for making this tournament a success.

Looking forward to a fruitful 2019
Patrick Ngwenya
Hartsfield, Bulawayo.

There are so many cities, towns and villages throughout Zimbabwe who have really embraced the Tag Rugby Trust community club model and its associated programmes. Whilst in Zimbabwe on a planning trip, TRT Chairman Martin Hansford, took time to visit Zimbiru Primary School in Domboshawa to meet teachers and players, see the real output from previous years community projects and see some of the scope that exists for future projects.

Whilst there, Martin presented them with a playing kit donated by Michael Whitfield of Barnes RFC which was given to TRT on the Atlas Foundation Tour to Zimbabwe earlier in 2018. Zimbiru Headmaster, school teachers and players were all thrilled to bits and very grateful to receive the strip.

Mill Hill School – 2018 Tag Rugby Trust Tour to Zambia And Zimbabwe

The 2018 edition of the Mill Hill School Tag Rugby Trust tour saw 26 pupils and four teachers travel first to Kitwe in the Copperbelt area of Zambia. Hosted warmly by Mpelembe Secondary School, the group ran a teacher and young leader tag coaching session to prepare everyone for the week to come. Split into 5 coaching groups, the team worked in 10 government and community schools around Kitwe during their time there.

A typical day on tour saw each group conducting two morning and two afternoon tag sessions each with approximately 40 boys and girls involved. Local volunteers joined each coaching group as well as teachers from the schools.

The culmination of the first week of the programme saw a fantastic tournament hosted at Mpelemebe School where the 10 schools entered teams of 10 players (5 boys and 5 girls). It was a colourful, vibrant day with some great tag being played by all teams.

Supporting an Old People’s Home

The second week of the tour saw the group move to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Tag rugby still formed part of the programme, but the main focus for the group this week was the renovation of a building and the creation of vegetable gardens at the Chinotimba Association for the Destitute and Aged (CHADA).

Seeing the Sights

Victoria Falls also provided the setting for a visit to the famous Vic Falls waterfall and an opportunity to experience an African safari in the Chobe National Park in Botswanna.

The week was rounded off with a further tag tournament where pupils were included in the school teams (but not allowed to score). The sound system provided another vibrant atmosphere and the standard of tag played was very impressive.

A fantastic Impact on the local communities

As the tour wrapped up and returned to the UK the pupils reflected on their achievements – over 1,000 children coached, a building refurbished, vegetable gardens made and 50 local teachers and young leaders engaged in the whole process.

IATR – I’m Able Through Rugby

The I’m Able Through Rugby (IATR) project is designed to promote the ABILITY in disABILITY. For far too long the common misconception of people with disabilities (PWDs) has been that they aren’t capable of achieving things able bodied people can. Through the IATR programme a platform has been created to showcase their capabilities in an open and inclusive environment. As Tag Rugby Trust (TRT) is built around the community, this initiative helps the IATR members be included and accepted by other members of the community in which they live. It also provides anyone in the IATR programme with a pathway through the TRT programme as a whole.

The First of Many IATR Tournaments

Friday the 20th of July 2018 was a landmark moment for TRT Zim’s IATR (I’m Able Through Rugby) programme, as we ran our first major tournament. Powered by fantastic support from Australian Aid, we were joined by 6 Zimcare centers: Batsirai, Homefields, Ruvimbo, St Catherines, Sharon Cohen and Zambuko. These centers form the core of the IATR program and are the pioneers of TRT Zimbabwe’s IATR initiative. We were also joined by Nora and Amanda from the Australian Embassy, Harare who joined us on the day to present and handover new kit and equipment.

Fun, Games, Laughter & New Kit

As teams were arriving the day was kicked off with various warm up games; passing and catching, tag chaos and bulldogs which saw the joining in of coaches, volunteers and OUR SPONSORS too. Tons of laughing and smiles by all. When all teams had arrived, Des the project co-ordinator kicked off by welcoming everyone to the day and taking no time at all to introduce the sponsors who were delighted to unveil the IATR kit for Tag Rugby Trust Harare. Teams were gifted with new balls, cones, tags and T-shirts which was followed by more smiling. As the presentation was coming to an end, the sponsors also received a token of appreciation from TRT Zim and they, too, said a few words.

A Great, Competitive Tournament

Tournament kicked off with a bang with Homefields taking on Batsirai followed by Sharon Cohen competing with Ruvimbo. It was staggered between two pools of three, seeing each team play 2 games in the round robin stages. After the pools were decided, 4 more knock out games were held. At the end of it all the team from Chitungwisa, Sharon Cohen, were crowned champions of the event. Special mention to Coach Washy and Coach Boxer as without their help the program and day would not have been a success.

Thank You Australian Aid

A mighty “thank you” goes to Australian Aid through their offices in Harare. Due to their commitment and support the program has made huge strides and has given TRT Zimbabwe the platform needed to expand and grow the project further.

#AbilityInDisABILITY #I’mAble #Zimcare #AusAid

Report by Harare Media