Dozens of schoolchildren will be delivered a daily meal in a new initiative by Richmond Rugby this summer.

The club said it felt compelled to act when it became apparent that the poorest and most vulnerable in our community who would be hit hardest by the pandemic.

It joined forces with former England forward and current British and Irish Lions President, Jason Leonard, and his charity The Atlas Foundation, to successfully apply for funding from the London Community Response Fund for the project.

Richmond Rugby's head of community Dom Palacio said: "From mid-July until schools return in September, our catering team at the Richmond Athletic Association (RAA) will cook daily meals, Monday to Friday, for up to 40 local school children who are being identified throughout our community.

"This process has been proudly supported by our club partner schools, in particular Grey Court School, with the help and assistance from the Ham Youth Centre Richmond.

"The cooked meals will then be delivered to the children by our incredible army of Richmond Rugby volunteers, who have been working exceptionally hard these past few months, supporting the 'Dons Local Action Group' at our food collection points every Saturday at the Athletic Ground and daily at Tesco Extra Twickenham."

The schools and their pupils who stand to benefit from the nutritious meals are now being identified.

Grey Court School headteacher Chris Rhodes said: "This is a hugely important announcement by Richmond Rugby Club and one which we are extremely happy to support and help facilitate throughout the summer holidays.

"We have had some great discussions with the club and Ham Youth Centre Richmond and strongly believe this will make a huge difference to those children in need throughout our community."

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