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didi rugby is hosting a spectacular presentation day for children and parents in Leicestershire on Sunday 15th July.

Hinckley RFC will be the venue for what promises to be an amazing day of fun, games, excitement and your chance to have photos taken with some of the biggest names in both the men’s and women’s version of the sport.

If you and your child are one of the thousands of people across the country who enjoy didi rugby every week, the good news is that you are invited to come along and join in.

Every child will be presented with a special didi certificate on the day at our awards ceremony to mark their determination and efforts at our classes.

There will plenty of didi rugby ambassadors enjoying the day with us including broadcaster and author Rosemary Conley, former England hooker George Chuter and Leicester Tigers scrum-half Sam Harrison, among others.

You must book your place to attend and an optional breakfast is also available for those booking in.

didi rugby is delighted to be in partnership with GO Rugby this summer.

GO Rugby provides the sport for all ages from 18 months up to 80 years!

What started off as the Golden Oldies (GO) has expanded to an event to include all ages and, after a successful inaugural event last year, is back with two bigger weekends this year, celebrating rugby, music and food – what is there not to like?

GO’s ethos is make our wonderful sport as accessible as possible for as many as possible and didi rugby will be right behind them.

The Welsh Rugby Union will be supporting the Cardiff event at Llandaff Rugby Club, while didi rugby Reading will be heavily involved in the first English GO event with the help of the RFU, London Irish, London Irish Amateurs and Hazlewood.

Paul Guest from GO Rugby said: “GO Rugby is all about making this wonderful sport as accessible as possible and a real highlight of this year’s events will be the addition of many under-represented rugby grades.

“This means that literally anyone can get on the field and enjoy the game.”

Didi rugby CEO Vicky Macqueen added: “GO Rugby has a similar ethos to that of didi rugby and that is to make the sport accessible and fun for all involved.

“We always like our didi kids to have smiles on their faces and I think there will be a lot of those around at what we are expecting to be extremely fun weekends.

“We would love people to bring their children along to see us and we can show them what didi rugby is all about in a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

didi rugby owner Vicky Macqueen writes…

Where children are concerned, that nature v nurture debate could rage on for ever.

But from my perspective as a mum with two boys aged 4 and 6, I know from experience that if I get them into good habits at a young age, there is more chance of them continuing those habits as they grow up.

Those good habits includes things like eating their greens, cleaning their teeth and actually weeing in the bowl, instead of on the floor! Boys eh?

But practicalities aside, I am very passionate about making sure my children get active and stay active.

Government guidelines encourage us to get our kids to do one hour of moderate intensity activity every day.

But a recent international survey of exercise among children painted a damning picture of our youngsters here in the UK.

Compared with 38 other countries, including the likes of Venezuela, England and Wales ranked joint third-last with Scotland right at the bottom.

Latest figures also claim that 20 per cent of 10 to 11-year-old in England are obese.

Keeping kids active gives them a better chance of staying away from obese levels but it will also tend to lead to fitter and healthier kids too.

That is a real driving factor behind didi rugby. My fitness kept me alive when I contracted a dangerous infection that could have killed me a few years ago. The doctors told me that my body fought the infection itself and helped to keep me alive.

I am determined to try and share the benefits of activity, health and fitness to parents and children and that is why I will remain a passionate advocate of what we do at didi rugby.

didi rugby is hosting a spectacular presentation day for children and parents in Leicestershire on Sunday 15^th July.

Hinckley RFC will be the venue for what promises to be an amazing day of fun, games, excitement and your chance to have photos taken with some of the biggest names in both the men’s and women’s version of the sport.

If you and your child are one of the thousands of people across the country who enjoy didi rugby every week, the good news is that you are invited to come along and join in.

Details of how to reserve your place, can be found at the bottom of this story.

Every child will be presented with a special didi certificate on the day at our awards ceremony to mark their determination and efforts at our classes.

There will plenty of didi rugby ambassadors enjoying the day with us including broadcaster and author Rosemary Conley and Leicester Tigers scrum-half Sam Harrison, among others.

And our franchise owners will be there too making this a very special day for the extended didi family.

Breakfast will be available to get the day off to a great start because nothing major was built on an empty stomach!

didi rugby is delighted to announce a brand new working partnership with the Burford Academy – run by England and Harlequins centre, Rachael Burford.

The two companies share the same work ethic and ultimate goal of getting children inspired and involved in the sport of rugby.

And there will be some exciting announcements ahead after didi rugby owner Vicky Macqueen and Rachael agreed to work together on future projects.

The two backs have a strong long-term relationship having played for England at the same time and shared six years at Saracens together.

Now, Vicky concentrates on spreading the values of didi rugby far and wide while Rachael still plays the game and puts the rest of her energy into the Burford Academy coaching girls rugby.

There will be no shortage of passion for the game when the two start linking their businesses for some exciting projects ahead.

“Rachael has been watching how didi rugby has been doing since we launched and has been interested in our set-up,” said Vicky.

“She is still be playing the game at the top level but is really passionate about girls’ rugby and how the sport has had such a positive effect on her life so she wants to develop her business too.

“We both love rugby from the amateur days to the professional days and have been looking at ways in which we can work together and help each other out.

“It is going to be very exciting. Watch this space for further developments and exciting opportunities for young people.”

We have been filming a new promotional video and we had a lot of fun producing it too.

Here is a just a taster of what our day was like with children, parents and carers playing just as big a part as our wonderful didi rugby coaches.

didi owner Vicky Macqueen said: “Thanks to all of the amazing kids who took part in the day. You did us proud and really played your part.

“Thanks to the parents who provided us with their children for the morning and gave us some great feedback too.

“And a final thanks to Hinckley Rugby Club for the use of their facilities for the shoot.:

The full video will be out soon on our website and associated social media platforms.

Expect some serious competition in the Gulliver family when didi rugby Coventry is launched at Coventry RFC on Saturday 16 June.

Ben and Georgie Gulliver already run didi rugby Bedfordshire after launching in April.

Now, Ben’s parents and sister will be the driving force behind didi’s latest franchise.

Tony Gulliver made 381 first-team appearances for Coventry RFC during a playing career that spanned 15 seasons and he is still team manager for the club.

His wife Carol, a former international swimmer, will be operations director of the new venture while daughter Sophie will be running the show.

There is little doubt, in a rugby-mad, competitive family, that the successes of didi Coventry and didi Bedfordshire will be discussed at future family meals!

Sophie is a mother of three young boys aged between three and nine who all play rugby and she has seen at first hand the value of getting her kids active and having fun from a young age.

“I am super passionate about children having the options to take part in a range of activities,” said Sophie. “I believe this assists them in being well-rounded and confident when venturing in to the adult world.

“I have personally seen my children’s confidence grow from being part of many different activities.”

Tony meanwhile, has been delighted to see his grandchildren follow in his and his own offspring’s footsteps.

“Rugby always has, and always will be, my passion,” he said. “I thrive on getting more people involved in the best team sport in the world because it creates a culture of teamwork, respect, sportsmanship, discipline and most importantly, enjoyment.”

Carol is an executive leader in private healthcare with 29 years of driving high-level performance in business so there will be no lack of acumen behind this didi team.

didi rugby’s North Yorkshire and East Riding franchise is launching new classes in Beverley next month.

Beverley Rugby Club will be hosting free taster sessions for all three didi age groups with the big launch taking place on Tuesday 5 June.

Regular classes will follow on from that in June and July at the club and head coach Emma Cutress said she was delighted to be expanding their reach throughout the area.

“I’m really excited about our upcoming launch in Beverley,” she said. “This enables us to share the didi rugby fun with lots more young children across East Riding which is fantastic.

“We are seeing great skills being developed in our existing sessions while our didi stars grow in confidence and ability and I can’t wait to see even more children benefitting from getting more active in our area.

“The team at Beaver Park have been really supportive and we are looking forward to working closely with them over the coming weeks and months to make didi Rugby a real success in Beverley.”

Classes for 18 months to 3-year-olds with start at 4.00pm, with the 3 to 4-year-olds beginning at 4.40pm.

The older didi group finish things off with the 4 to 6-year-olds going from 5.20 to 6.00pm.

A Beverley Rugby Club spokesman said: “We are extremely keen to promote rugby development at any age and welcome this fun and informative initiative to the club.”

didi rugby Reading owner Craig Hunter has been so struck by the support he has received since starting the business, he has turned it into a full-time franchise.

Craig took the decision after he and fellow coach Donna Clark were struggling to take advantage of new opportunities to grow their didi business because they simply didn’t have the time to do so.

Just three months into their didi franchise and Craig has become a full-time business owner to make sure those opportunities don’t slip by.

“It all started with a great conversation I had with Vicky Macqueen (didi owner) and has turned into a full-time business now,” he said.

“It has been really enjoyable since we started but it had got to the stage where I was struggling to fit everything into three days a week and Donna was doing too much too.

“We had invested time and energy into didi rugby but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities it was creating because we didn’t have the extra time due to other commitments.

“I thought ‘enough was enough’ and I was brave enough to make the jump!

“We have three or four coaches involved and me and Donna both coach too so we have been splitting what we do. We have been going into different clubs and schools since we started and there is plenty of other interest out there too.”

As well as taking didi rugby into schools around the area, Craig and Donna are currently hosting classes in Reading RFC on Friday and Saturday, Aldermaston RFC on Saturday and Woodford Park Leisure Centre on Monday.

“Rugby clubs in the Berkshire area are buying into it one by one and we have received some great support,” added Craig.

“I have not been surprised it has gone so well but I have been surprised at how quickly it has grown. Vicky is a big driving force behind it and she has the same ethos as we do. It’s all about engagement and there is certainly plenty of that about.

“We have lots of fun running the business and the kids enjoy seeing me melt when we are running around at classes. I am losing weight with every week that goes by!

“When adults and parents they see the kids smiling, they soon get it. Those smiles are infectious. Parents are engaged too and we make sure they are involved.

didi rugby South Warwickshire is up and running after a fun-filled launch day at Kenilworth Community Centre.

Some exciting new friendships were born when children and parents from all three didi class age groups turned up for a free taster session under the guidance of franchise owner Kiri Bennett.

And the day was made even more special with a visit from England Women’s rugby duo, Amy Cokayne and Charlotte Pearce who helped deliver the classes.

And Amy took to social media to say what a good time she had had: “It was great to be a part of the launch of didi rugby in Kenilworth with Kiri,” she said. “It is such a great prgramme for all involved and even us big kids sharpened up our skills!”