APPENDIX 4
RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY THE RFU
"STATE OF
THE NATION"
SURVEY
The RFU conducts an annual survey of all 2,000
affiliated clubs—the "State of the Nation" survey.
The survey is carried out as part of the annual return to the
RFU for insurance purposes, and thus achieves an extremely high
response rate (the most recent survey reported over 80% completions,
extremely high for a survey of this type).
The survey is comprehensive in scope, collating
information on a number of issues affecting the clubs, including
facilities, staffing levels (including coaches and volunteers).
Some key information arising from the 2002 survey
were:
— The average club had a membership
base of 80 male players and five female players, although almost
half of clubs had seen a reduction in membership over the previous
year. Encouragingly, 67% reported an increase in boys numbers
(30% girls). More than half of clubs run three male XVs, but only
17% run a women's XV. 45% run a veteran's XV.
— 34% of club facilities are owned,
with 4.7% part owned, 44% leased or rented and 15% hired publicly.
The average number of pitches per club was 2.4, with 1.2 mini/midi
pitches. 23% of clubs have no training areas on site.
— 95% of clubs have changing accommodation,
but only 69% say that this meets their needs. 72% have showers,
only 8% have shower cubicles, and almost 20% do not have adequate
toilet facilities.
— 16% of all adult teams have no coach;
47% of all adult teams have an unqualified coach. Most coaches
(70%) do not have a job description.
— 41% of clubs have no links with any
educational establishment, and only 33% have a link with their
Local Authority Sports Development Officer. Only 13% have a link
with their Active Sports Partnership.
— 12% of clubs have a volunteer recruitment
policy, and less than 10% of clubs have written job descriptions.
The average hours per week spent volunteering during the season
is 123 hours per club (almost 5 million volunteer hours in total),
and 61% of clubs say that volunteer hours have increased. The
average club has 25.8 volunteers.
— Only 80% of clubs have public liability
insurance cover, with 43% having personal accident insurance.
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