Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund Asset Improvement Loan Prospectus

We are delighted to launch our full prospectus for the Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund Asset Improvement Loans programme.

This is a partnership programme enabling government loans to be made available, via the RFU, to help clubs invest in their assets to enable them to reboot and become more financially resilient into the future. It has been designed and developed in conjunction with Sport England who continue to provide oversight.

At the time of writing, government have confirmed that the programme is open to all incorporated clubs and we are continuing dialogue with them to look at ways by which this can be extended to unincorporated clubs. We hope to have this resolved next week but wanted to publish the prospectus today to enable clubs to have as much time as possible to consider the detail of the scheme and discuss their appetite to apply.

Loan funding is available between £20,000 and £150,000 for facility projects that will help clubs to survive, diversify revenue, reduce operating costs and protect and grow their membership.

This prospectus outlines the applications process and key facts about the three funding “buckets” available, as well as repayment terms, example costs and RFU support available relating to each eligible project category.

We aim to open the application process next week, at which point detailed FAQs will be available to consult alongside the prospectus to enable clubs to determine whether to make an application, to select the most suitable project for your club and to calculate loan repayment terms. Further information will be published on our loans page next week