With exactly 500 days to go until the start of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, legacy programme Impact ’25 launched in Northampton today.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will be the biggest-ever celebration of women’s international rugby, with several matches set to take place in front of a worldwide audience at the home of Northampton Saints and Loughborough Lightning.
To mark the 500-day milestone, local girls joined members of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Northampton Saints and West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens for the launch of Impact ’25.
The RFU’s transformational multi-million-pound legacy programme aims to grow rugby throughout the country, delivered in partnership with UK Government, Sport England and UK Sport. Impact ’25 will provide substantial improvements in facilities and greater opportunities for females at all levels of the game, and has already seen £12.13m of Government funding committed to women and girls’ grassroots rugby.
Attendees at the event, hosted by Northampton Saints and Loughborough Lightning, were able to take part in girls’ non-contact rugby sessions, led by Lightning players Daisy Hibbert-Jones, Emma Hardy and Abby Duguid. There was also a showing of the ‘Heart of the Game’ Rugby World Cup trailer, produced by local sixth form students from the Bee Hive SEND vocational college for Northampton Film Festival.
Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of Northampton Saints, said: “We were absolutely over the moon to be selected as one of the host venues for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and as the tournament approaches, that excitement continues to build.
“Participation in women’s and girls’ rugby throughout our region has never been higher, and the audience for the sport is growing all the time. We are delighted to have played a part in that through our partnership with Loughborough Lightning and our community outreach programmes, as well as by hosting women’s international matches in Northampton in 2021 and 2023.
“We hope bringing several World Cup matches to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens in 2025 will have a transformational effect on rugby in our region – and with 500 days now to go until the tournament gets underway, it’s fantastic to see the Impact ’25 legacy programme also get up and running today.”
Mark Darbon, Northampton Saints Chief Executive
“We are confident the Women’s Rugby World Cup and Impact ’25 can inspire the next generation of female players and create a lasting legacy of success for women’s rugby and the local community in Northampton and beyond.
“Everyone at Saints is grateful to West Northamptonshire Council for their collaboration in helping us host this event and launch Impact ’25 in Northampton, as well as to the RFU, UK Government and Sport England for their funding and support.”
Cllr Adam Brown, Deputy Leader of WNC and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure, added: “We are extremely excited to welcome the Women’s Rugby World Cup to West Northamptonshire next year and it was great to experience a taste of what is to come at today’s Impact ’25 launch event.
“This major tournament will bring huge benefits to our area, not only attracting visitors from around the world and showcasing West Northamptonshire's unique rugby culture to millions of viewers, but also encouraging more people to get active and building women and girls’ participation in both Rugby and other sports by providing a wealth of new sporting opportunities.”
The Heart of the Game: WRWC 2025 comes to Northampton
Impact ‘25 funding began in the 2022-23 season and was awarded for four years until 2025-26.
Thanks to Impact ‘25, 104 clubs have been awarded funding to upgrade toilet facilities and 102 have been provided with sanitary packages, with nine larger grants for clubs to develop social spaces and changing rooms, all aimed at making rugby clubs more welcoming and inclusive of female players.
281 coaches and match officials have been supported with their development in order to increase the number, quality and visibility of female coaches and match officials in rugby, and 59 clubs have received grants to start up U12s activity to bring more girls who have never been involved in the sport into rugby clubs.
Bill Sweeney, CEO, RFU said: “The opportunity to grow the women’s game was a primary driver behind our bid to host Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, and we are very grateful to Government for committing funding to this transformational programme as part of the tournament.
“Working together with Government, UK Sport, Sport England and World Rugby we will create a legacy for women’s rugby in England and the home nations, both in terms of attracting more fans and people to play, coach, officiate, and volunteer.
“We are already seeing huge strides forwards being made thanks to Impact ‘25 and look forward to seeing further progress over the coming months and years.”
