Rugby League’s long-running and groundbreaking partnership with Community Integrated Care received further recognition last week with the Care Innovator Award at the Great British Care Awards National Final in Birmingham.
Now the players, coaches and volunteers who have driven the success of the Community Integrated Care Learning Disability Super League over the last decade are looking forward to another season – kicking off with their usual starring role at the Magic Weekend.
That means a return to St James’ Park in Newcastle on the first weekend of May – which will revive so many happy memories of previous LDSL involvement in the North-East, after last year’s equally impactful contribution to the 2024 Super League Magic Weekend at Elland Road in Leeds.
Adam Hills MBE, the President of the Rugby Football League, said:
“Rugby League’s commitment to inclusion is one of the reasons I’m so proud to be RFL President, so I’m stoked to hear the partnership between the Learning Disability Super League and Community Integrated Care has received national recognition ahead of the Magic Weekend. I've seen first-hand what the LDSL means to the players, families, spectators and to Rugby League as a whole, and I'm excited for them to bring a little more magic to St James’ Park."
John Hughes and Briony Davies from Community Integrated Care joined RL Commercial’s Senior Marketing Manager Katarina Graham to receive the award from Vernon Kay at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre on a night which was a celebration of the thousands of unsung heroes who work in the care sector.
John Hughes, Community Integrated Care’s Director of Partnerships and Communities, said: “We are incredibly proud that the Community Integrated Care Learning Disability Super League has been recognised as the stand-out innovation in the care sector. This groundbreaking programme shows the impact that can be made by thinking about support differently and forming ambitious partnerships with real vision.
“This project changes hundreds of lives every week - bringing communities together, transforming health and social inequalities, and creating lifelong memories.
“We would like to thank our partners in the Rugby Football League, RL Commercial and Super League, who share this honour. We are especially grateful to every club, foundation, coach, volunteer, family member and player who make this such an inclusive, impactful and inspiring programme.”
Last week’s award followed recognition at the 2024 Sports Business Awards before Christmas for the Best Community Scheme in the UK.
The Community Integrated Care Learning Disability Super League is a unique programme that offers a specially designed version of Rugby League for people who have learning disabilities or autism. Offering a non-competitive version of the sport, which focuses on developing important skills and social outcomes, the programme gives people who draw on support the opportunity to live their dreams playing for the clubs that they love, as Super League stars.
In research carried out by Manchester Metropolitan University, the programme was assessed as achieving £1.2m of social value for its communities annually.
