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didi rugby have teamed up with one of the country’s most-loved first-aid educational providers to offer top-notch training to new franchise owners and coaches.

The new partnership with Green Box First Aid will be called ‘didi first aid’ and will involve a lot more than up-skilling new and current coaches.

Sessions will be put on at various didi rugby sites across the country to offer paediatric training for parents – as well as special learning demonstrations for children to help them learn life-saving techniques to use themselves.

Green Box First Aid have had years of providing some much-loved educational sessions, providing skills and knowledge to help people who may not survive without intervention. Crucially, Green Box’s delivery in those lessons is done in a way which people can relate to.

Operating across the country, MD Paul Markham and his team give attendees confidence to tackle everything from day to day cuts, bumps and bruises to life threatening situations.

didi rugby are always fully committed to providing sessions in a safe environment and promoting a healthy livelihood. Now they are delighted to be able to offer all of its didi first aid training under the leadership of Green Box.

Those who complete a didi first aid course will receive an official didi first aid at work Level 3 VTQ qualification, with a paediatric focus. This can also be used by those who complete the course as an emergency first aid at work qualification.

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen said she was delighted to complete a partnership with such a well-respected five-star company.

“We are very excited to join up with Green Box,” she said. “Paul and his team have a huge amount of experience in delivering first aid for all ages in various settings from work places to schools.

“We are so excited to be working closely with a fantastic company like didi rugby,” he said. “didi first aid will see us training didi’s coaches in really important first aid skills so that children are safe in the environment.

“We are also excited about launching our work with under-6s as well.

“We are going to give those under-6s the opportunity to learn some really valuable skills which will help them and will introduce them to first aid.

“Green Box have worked with this age group for a long while and make learning for this age group both fun and easy to understand.”

didi rugby’s launch in Italy took another huge step forwards as a team of delegates from Colorno Rugby Club visited England for three days of training.

Michele Mordacci, Sara Iounesi and Irene Campanini enjoyed a fact-finding weekend with the team from didi HQ as they were taken through all of the elements which have combined to make didi rugby such a huge success in the UK.

The knowledge gleaned from their visit to the Midlands will enable them to set up the same systems in Italy as didi rugby spreads its fun and values to Europe.

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen said it was great to spend some time with the visitors.

didi rugby classes are growing in Leicestershire again with new launches coming up in Huncote and Stoney Stanton.

Sessions for all three didi age groups will be coming to both venues.

The Huncote launch will take place on Saturday 7 September at Huncote Leisure Centre with free taster sessions for all three age groups from 8.45am to 10.45am.

Regular classes with then begin the following Saturday at the same times.

Meanwhile, the launch at Stoney Stanton will take place on Monday 9 September from 4pm to 5pm.

The venue for that will be the Stoney Stanton Village Hall and that is where regular classes will then commence from Friday 13 September from 4pm to 6pm, again serving all three didi age groups.

And there is a new venue for didi rugby in Lutterworth, starting on Saturday 31 August.

Due to Lutterworth Rugby Club having World Cup events throughout the autumn, didi classes will move to Steph’s Swim School, Sheridan House, Gilmorton Road, Lutterworth, LE17 4DY. All visitors are asked to park in the nearby medical centre car park and walk up to the venue. Classes begin at 9.40am.

Dom Osborn will be head coach at all of the above venues. The secondary school PE teacher has already been delivering didi rugby sessions as a coach at other venues in the county and seen her daughter enjoy didi rugby sessions too.

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen said: “Because Dom has been coaching didi rugby for a while now, we already know the passion and energy she will bring to these classes.

“She has a great rapport with both kids and parents and, like Dom, we can’t wait to get the sessions up and running.”

The first event of the newly-formed partnership between didi rugby and the Burford Academy has taken place at Reading RFC.

Former England team mates Vicky Macqueen and Rachael Burford have joined forces to provide a day of fun, games and activities for children aged between 18 months and 18 years of age.

Vicky’s didi rugby operates franchises across the country, while Rachael runs the coaching academies for girls aged between 8 and 18 alongside her commitments in the professional game.

The first one of many joint ventures took place at one of didi rugby Reading’s partner clubs, Reading RFC.

“It’s all about collaboration and bringing great people together to work side by side,” said Vicky.

“We are all spreading the gospel of rugby and physical activity and it’s great to see young people growing in confidence by playing the game.

It was great to see the didis having fun with their coaches while the older girls were working so well with their role models, Rachael Burford and (England scrum-half) Leanne Riley.

“Rachael and I played together and since I retired, I have watched her progress. Now she is a business woman too promoting the sport and I hope this will be a long partnership that both of us enjoy.

“This particular partnership creates a nice pathway specifically for girls. Anything we can do to grow the game for girls is great to see.”

Rachael said the group at Reading at been split into two different working age groups: “We want them to get to know each other and so we start the day with an ice-breaking session to get them laughing and interacting,” she said.

“Our camps are for girls from all over the area and are from all different clubs. Some have been playing for half a year and some for eight years. We take all ages from post didi classes up to under-18s.

Marie Chaston’s route to didi rugby has taken the long way round.

And it’s fair to say that she would not be involved in rugby at all were it not for her daughter, Charlotte (13).

“Charlotte has always loved rugby and was running around playing with the boys as a youngster. I used to stand on the sidelines and watch until one day, I was asked to help out coaching,” said Marie. “So I did my courses and got involved.

“I quickly fell in love with the sport and the social side of it was just fantastic. I just wish I had played it myself when I was growing up too!”

When Charlotte reached the age of 12, regulations wouldn’t allow her to play with the boys any more and so Marie set up a girls team at their club, Nottingham Moderns.

With half a team coming to regular coaching sessions, Marie met a fellow girls’ coach at West Bridgford who was in the same boat and the two decided to join forces.

They created the South Notts Saphires and now have teams at under-13, 15 and 18 levels. The under-18s then go on to join the West Bridgford Ladies team when they get too old.

Marie’s love of the sport made the prospect of joining didi rugby an exciting one when she saw an advert for new coaches and when she spoke to founder Vicky Macqueen about getting involved, didi rugby Nottingham was born and is due to launch at Nottingham Moderns RFC on Saturday 21 September.

“I am super excited to start my didi rugby journey,” said Marie. “Children’s development has been a passion of mine since 2010 when I started my child-minding business and to link that passion with my love for rugby is a dream come true.

“Having the knowledge of child development and understanding children alongside my experience of coaching and building our girls’ section at Nottingham Moderns (South Notts Sapphires) will I hope, make didi rugby Nottingham a huge success.

didi rugby is coming to Chester and interest in the upcoming classes is already growing at an incredible rate.

Having advertised launch party sessions for all three age groups just a couple of weeks ago, franchise owner Katie Heirene is considering putting on more classes because some of the scheduled ones are already full!

Sessions will get underway on Sunday 15 September at 9.00am and will take place at Chester Rugby Club after a partnership was formed between them and new didi rugby Chester owner Katie Heirene.

It’s the latest partnership between a didi rugby franchise and a local rugby club with the goal of not only forming stronger links with the sport in the community – but to also provide a seamless pathway for children when they become too old for didi rugby at the age of 5 or 6 and move up into the club’s minis section.

Katie says she can’t wait to get the classes up and running and share the fun and success she has enjoyed since beginning her didi rugby journey in the Crewe and Nantwich area.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing didi rugby to Chester, especially given that we will be based at Chester Rugby Club itself,” said Katie.

“It is a fantastic club with a thriving youth section that we are delighted to be able to add to by offering our classes for boys and girls from as young as 18 months.

“We launched in Crewe and Nantwich last September and have been overwhelmed with the response. Both the classes and schools programme have been hugely popular and we were even able to run our first Key Stage 1 rugby festival for local primary schools at Tarporley High School last May.

“didi rugby helps us to inspire more kids to get active and hopefully begin an interest in all sports. It is also a great way for parents to spend some quality time with their didi stars.

“Probably the most rewarding thing about didi rugby by far has been watching the confidence of our didi stars soar. After just 12 months, many of them are now participating in games and activities independently with their friends, even those in the Under 3s class!

Spaces have become available in didi rugby Midlands classes based in the Hinckley and Burbage area after a number of stars have graduated to club tag rugby.

In Burbage at Millennium Hall, half a dozen places are up for grabs after a group of six-year-olds moved up to play for their local clubs.

While at Hinckley Leisure Centre, there are some spaces for classes covering all three didi rugby age groups: 18 months to 3 years, 3 years to 4 years and 4 years to 6 years.

The classes on Wednesday and Friday mornings at the Leisure Centre give parents the opportunity to bring their kids to didi classes without it eating into their weekend.

While the Wednesday class at 3.45pm is an ideal after-school activity to get your children active and having fun.

didi rugby’s Hinckley and Burbage classes have been busy for a long time and interested parents are invited to book a place for their children before the classes fill up (see links below).

Any newcomers to didi rugby are entitled to a free taster session to see if they like it before reserving a place.

didi rugby founder Vicky Macqueen still coaches many of the classes in this area and says she is always excited to send graduates off to play tag rugby.

“It’s always an amazing feeling to see didi stars move up from our eldest age group and onto local clubs to continue their rugby journey,” she said.

“It sometimes brings a tear to my eye because I am so happy that they are continuing to play the game but also because I will miss having them and their parents around at class time.

Calling all Sporty Mums and Dads – do you want to gain some life balance with the summer holidays upon us?

didi rugby is a franchise-based business that has opportunities all over the UK and in other English speaking markets.

The business is actively looking to expand, ready for the back-to-school term in September and franchise manager Sanchia De Lacy suggests that getting involved in didi rugby could be ideal for a new work/life balance.

“Being a busy mum of very active twin girls I really understand the importance of having a balance between life and work,” she said.

“I have been supporting new franchisees with their business set-up over time and I truly believe that anyone can do this with the right passion and drive to both get kids active and also have the desire to work for themselves.

“didi rugby has grown across the UK in the last 18 months and I have been lucky enough to work with all types of people to help them get started with their ‘new way of balancing life, work and  play’.

“It’s not an easy option, but becoming a didi franchise business owner does come with some perks that any parent would see as a massive influence on their life.

“Pick your own days for delivery, select class times that suit your area, get others involved and working in your business, help these people grow into great coaches and become the coaching lead yourself, as well as becoming an actual business owner.

“There could be no more 9-5 and missing school pick-up and sports days, and no more stressing around holiday cover. didi rugby run their core classes around term times only so this really can work for parents with the drive and interest.”

And Sanchia added that you don’t need to be a rugby expert to make a didi franchise work well.

didi rugby has enjoyed two great days out at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s Snap Dragon Children and Family Festival.

Hundreds of children have taken part in didi sessions during the festival at both Market Bosworth and Hinckley sites.

The Snap Dragon Festivals provide free or very low-cost activities for local families in the area and are held are various sites across the district.

The idea is to provide fun and activity to families during the school summer holidays from 11am to 3pm each day.

didi rugby was invited to get involved in both Hinckley and Bosworth and thoroughly enjoyed helping youngsters learn new skills and gain in confidence while doing so.

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen said it was fantastic to see so many families outside and getting involved.

“It was an honour to be asked to provide didi rugby at the Snap Dragon Festival,” she said. “There were so many children having a go, it was great to see.

“The festival is a fantastic idea by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and so well organised by Liz Causon and her team.

“We are hoping to see some of the children who had a go at the festival, at our classes when we re-start after the summer holidays.”