Since September 2021, Watkins has been the long-term sponsor of Thanet Wanderers Rugby Football Club‘s grassroots work. The partnership covers three things: the club’s Mini and Junior section, its award-winning Schools and Community Programme, and the Rug Rats sessions that introduce three- and four-year-olds to rugby every Sunday morning.
Four years in, the numbers behind it have grown substantially. So has the kit, the coaching, and the number of children getting their first taste of rugby on a Saturday morning who’d never have set foot on a pitch otherwise.
“We’ve committed to a long-term partnership to help develop the Mini and Junior Section of the club, with support for coaching, kit and equipment. The agreement also supports the work they do in the award-winning Schools and Community Programme.”
“This is making an important contribution to community-based rugby and giving access to sport for all pupils across Thanet, especially girls.”
Marc Harris, Group Services Director, at the Watkins–Thanet Wanderers partnership launch, September 2021
The numbers
Between September 2024 and April 2025, 1,866 children received in-school rugby coaching through the programme. That’s 1,288 boys and 578 girls across eleven Thanet schools.
The opening three months of the 2025–26 season (September to November) have already added another 1,038 children across seven schools. 781 boys, 257 girls.
In the eleven months from September 2024 to November 2025, 2,904 children had rugby coaching they wouldn’t otherwise have had, thanks to the partnership.
What the sponsorship covers
The Mini and Junior section is the club’s youth feeder, coaching, kit and equipment for boys and girls from primary school age upwards. Watkins funds the operational backbone: training gear, match equipment, and the running cost of the youth programme as a whole.
The Schools and Community Programme is the wider reach. Thanet Wanderers coaches go into local primary and secondary schools across Thanet during PE lessons, running rugby sessions that introduce the game to kids who’d never otherwise get the chance. Particular focus on access for girls, who have historically been left out of school rugby provision.
The Rug Rats programme is the youngest end of the pipeline. Three- and four-year-olds, every Sunday morning from September to May, 9.00 to 9.45am. Forty-five minutes of organised play that introduces rugby through games before the kids are old enough to read the rules.
Why we back it
We sponsor Thanet Wanderers because community rugby is local infrastructure. It’s where the next generation of Kent rugby players come from. More importantly, it’s where thousands of kids learn about teamwork, fitness, and the value of showing up for something bigger than themselves.
The club’s commitment to access, particularly for girls who’d otherwise be excluded from the sport entirely, is the reason we picked Thanet Wanderers as a long-term partner rather than a one-off donor. A sustained relationship is what lets a programme like Rug Rats exist year after year, and what lets the schools coaching reach more pupils every season.
2,904 children in eleven months. We’re proud to be the sponsor that helped make it happen, and we’re looking forward to many more.
More on Thanet Wanderers’ wider work at thanetwanderers.co.uk.
