If you have been keeping a keen eye on our LinkedIn page, you will have seen that Dartcell recently sponsored a trip for Year 12 students organised by the Tag Rugby Trust.
The Tag Rugby Trust (TRT) aims to motivate, educate and inspire young people around the world by encouraging participation in the famously team-oriented sport. Established in 2002, the organisation’s initial goal was to teach young adults how to play the game – but the focus of its work has shifted in recent years, with a greater emphasis on stimulating social change and equipping the people it supports with the skills they need to thrive in today’s competitive economy.
In line with the above objectives, the Tag Rugby Trust partnered with Hockerill Anglo-European College in Bishop’s Stortford to offer eighteen Year 12 students the chance to travel to Zimbabwe this May to engage with kids in the community and, in the Trust’s own words, “bring young people together through the power of sport”.
What did students get up to during their time in Zimbabwe?
The trip was carefully curated to include a fantastic blend of sports-focused projects, including coaching tag rugby to students in grade 4 (mainly 10- and 11-year olds) in local government primary schools and hosting a rugby tournament that engaged more than 100 young players.
But there was much more on the agenda. Participants also spent the week volunteering in an elderly person’s home and visiting an elephant sanctuary at Jafuta Reserve – and they were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime excursion to the majestic Victoria Falls and a safari stay at the Sian Simba River Lodge on the edge of the Zambezi River.
As you can imagine, the students thoroughly enjoyed immersing themselves in a new culture. These eager 16- and 17-year olds learned many new skills during their 10 days abroad, and, just as importantly, they can come away from the experience knowing that they made a real difference to children’s lives.
Why did Dartcell decide to sponsor the Tag Rugby Trust’s 2024 Zimbabwe Tour?
Without a little context, you may wonder why Dartcell’s founder, Russell Pope, afforded his support to the Tag Rugby Trust to help deliver the programme. Delve a little deeper, however, and it still becomes clear that Russell’s lifelong passion for rugby was the key driver behind his decision.
Russell said:
“I played rugby myself from the age of 13. It was a big part of my life through secondary school, university, and beyond. I even kept playing after I tore my ACL, although I can boast that my surgeon also operated on Paul Gascoigne’s knee after he suffered from the same fate! I stayed involved in the sport and eventually became a Hertfordshire rugby referee.
“Each of my children has grown up with rugby in their lives, too, and we have many fond memories watching Saracens at Vicarage Road in Watford and latterly at the StoneX stadium.
“What attracted me to rugby in the first place was the fact that it’s the ultimate team sport. No one individual can make it work – success in the game requires a collaborative effort. Plus, rugby promotes positive values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. So, when I heard about the Tag Rugby Trust’s mission to bring children together through these values, I jumped at the chance to get involved.
“The tour enabled children on both sides to have fun, learn from each other, and establish relationships with people they would otherwise never have the chance to meet. I’m very proud of all the students for embracing the opportunity, and in awe of the staff, teachers and volunteers who came together to make the trip happen.”
Martin Hansford, Chairman at the Tag Rugby Trust, was delighted with how the trip went and looks forward to arranging similarly enriching experiences for students in the future.
“It has been fantastic adding Hockerill Anglo-European College to the list of schools who offer their pupils this unique opportunity to tour to Zimbabwe with TRT. Having a headline sponsor like Dartcell in the first year supporting the initiative has been an amazing help.”
TRT’s kit supplier, Scimitar Sportswear, produced two separate Dartcell kit designs for the group. As part of Scimitar’s support for the trip, 20 additional tops were made to be left as strip for a local team.
“Leaving a positive legacy is a crucial part of the TRT touring model. We aim to do this through a positive impact on individuals, visiting tourists and local hosts, and the broader community through our programmes. To be able to leave Dartcell strip for a team will provide a long term reminder of the support Dartcell provided for this year’s trip.”
To find out more about what the students from Hockerill Anglo-European College got up to in Zimbabwe this May, please follow the charity’s Instagram account: @tag_rugby_trust_zim