{"id":19985,"date":"2011-12-20T21:35:56","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T21:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/?p=19985"},"modified":"2011-12-20T21:35:56","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T21:35:56","slug":"irish-rugby-stars-club-together-alan-quinlan-champions-ulster-bank-club-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/irish-rugby-stars-club-together-alan-quinlan-champions-ulster-bank-club-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Rugby Stars Club Together! Alan Quinlan champions Ulster Bank club initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of Ireland\u2019s top club rugby players lined-out in their Ulster Bank League strips at Old Wesley RFC \u2013 flanked by Irish rugby stars, Sean O\u2019Brien, Sean Cronin and Shane Jennings \u2013 to launch Ulster Bank\u2019s RugbyForce, an initiative which provides rugby clubs with support to renovate their club and upgrade their facilities. <\/p>\n

Ulster Bank introduced the Ulster Bank RugbyForce programme last season, after joining forces with the IRFU to become their \u2018Official Community Partner\u2019. Now, in their first full season as sponsor of the Ulster Bank League, Ulster Bank rugby ambassador and Ireland and Munster rugby legend, Alan Quinlan, is calling on clubs across Ireland to enter the programme. <\/p>\n

Speaking at the Ulster Bank launch, Alan Quinlan said: \u201cWith the success of the Irish national team and the outstanding development of our provincial sides in recent years, support for Irish rugby has seen a dramatic increase. The focus on young player development is at an all-time high and thankfully, this professional development has been fed into rugby clubs across the country. Every week, exceptionally talented players line-out for their clubs in crunching showdowns. For rugby fans who haven\u2019t witnessed a game in their local club \u2013 try one and you\u2019ll be hooked.\u201d
\n \"\"<\/a>
\nRugby fans can now get the latest club and international rugby content on the go, with the Ulster Bank Rugby iPhone app. Ulster Bank League fixtures, results, news and analysis can be accessed on Ulster Bank\u2019s rugby Facebook and Twitter pages. Rugby clubs can enter RugbyForce on Ulster Bank\u2019s dedicated rugby website \u2013 www.ulsterbank.com\/rugby – where extensive analysis and information on previous RugbyForce winners can also be found. <\/p>\n

Ulster Bank RugbyForce encourages rugby supporters, their friends and families to give something back to their local community and rugby club by volunteering to undertake renovations to clubhouses and grounds. Every registered club will be provided with online guidance and tools, and the first 25 clubs will also receive an increased support pack that includes \u20ac250 worth of materials, t-shirts for volunteers and an Ulster Bank RugbyForce plaque. Four lucky clubs (one from each province) will also be selected for a very special makeover. They will be awarded with \u20ac5,000 of goods and resources to use during their planned Ulster Bank RugbyForce weekend. Clubs must register for Ulster Bank RugbyForce online by 13th April.<\/p>\n

The initiative is part of RBS Group\u2019s, Ulster Bank\u2019s parent company, wider RugbyForce programme that is delivered with their retail divisions partners across the UK. In partnership with the respective rugby unions and underpinned by their sponsorship of the RBS 6 Nations, the initiative helps clubs at the grassroots of the game to improve their facilities. Since RugbyForce\u2019s launch in 2009 it has attracted over 850 clubs to register.<\/p>\n

Also speaking at the launch, Ellvena Graham, Chief Operating Officer, Ulster Bank, said: \u201cUlster Bank RugbyForce had an outstanding inaugural year. The programme presents an opportunity for local communities to pull together to improve their club\u2019s facilities. Rugby clubs are the pride of their local communities and this initiative will provide a massive boost to clubs and their communities across Ireland.\u201d <\/p>\n

Last May, four rugby clubs (one from each province) \u2013 from over 70 who registered to take part in Ulster Bank RugbyForce \u2013 received one of the up-weighted support packs. Ballina RFC in Mayo, Thomond RFC in Limerick, Wexford Wanderers RFC and Ballymoney RFC in Antrim were awarded support packages of \u20ac5,000 each. Renovations and refurbishments in these clubs included the installation of disabled facilities, upgrading of changing rooms to cater for increased female membership and sufficient drainage systems for pitches. <\/p>\n

Speaking about Ulster Bank RugbyForce, John Hussey, IRFU President, said: \u201cI would encourage all rugby clubs to enter the Ulster Bank RugbyForce initiative. It is a unique way of providing an added incentive for helping clubs maintain their facilities. It also provides a fantastic opportunity to bring members, players and supporters together to improve their local club.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winning clubs will receive:
\n\u00b7 Goods and resources up to the value of \u20ac5,000 to go towards the club\u2019s RugbyForce weekend
\n\u00b7 50 T-shirts for the volunteer workforce
\n\u00b7 Support material including on-line tools
\n\u00b7 Enhanced media support
\n\u00b7 Commemorative Ulster Bank RugbyForce Plaque
\n\u00b7 Terms and conditions apply and can be found at www.ulsterbank.com\/rugby <\/p>\n

The Increased support pack for the first 25 clubs includes:
\n\u00b7 Goods and resources up to the value of \u20ac250 to go towards the club\u2019s RugbyForce weekend
\n\u00b7 20 T-shirts for the volunteer workforce
\n\u00b7 Support material including on-line tools
\n\u00b7 Enhanced media support
\n\u00b7 Commemorative Ulster Bank RugbyForce Plaque
\n\u00b7 All clubs – even those who do not win – can still participate by using the on-line toolkit to help organise an event to improve club facilities and galvanise community support<\/p>\n

About Ulster Bank Group
\nUlster Bank was founded in 1836 and is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group. Across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland the Bank employs approximately 6000 people who serve over 1.9 million personal and business customers through 236 branches, 59 business banking offices and over 1,100 ATM\u2019s.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit http:\/\/www.ulsterbank.ie or http:\/\/www.ulsterbank.co.uk <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of Ireland\u2019s top club rugby players lined-out in their Ulster Bank League strips at Old Wesley RFC \u2013 flanked by Irish rugby stars, Sean O\u2019Brien, Sean Cronin and Shane Jennings \u2013 to launch Ulster Bank\u2019s RugbyForce, an initiative which provides rugby clubs with support to renovate their club and upgrade their facilities. Ulster Bank […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8274,5726,4589,4719,5497,5967,8275,3959,5977,8273,1997],"class_list":["post-19985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-irish-rugby","tag-alan","tag-bank","tag-champions","tag-club","tag-initiative","tag-irish","tag-quinlan","tag-rugby","tag-stars","tag-together","tag-ulster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19987,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19985\/revisions\/19987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}