Cramlington Rockets launch new era with Rugby League World Cup funding

The pandemic forced the Rugby League World Cup 2021 to be postponed for a year but that change of date has helped launch an exciting new era at Cramlington Rockets. Without the delay, the passionate North East club would not have been in a position to secure the £175,000 of funding from RLWC2021's CreatedBy programme, in partnership with the Rugby Football League, Sport England and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), which is being used to revitalise the Eastfield Community Pavilion.

Ad The refurbishment of the facility — transferred to the club by the local authority — is set to provide the Rockets with a top-class home while also serving as a thriving community hub which can help keep kids off the street in the deprived area of Eastfield. Rugby LeagueYorkshire club bidding to build a legacy ahead of Rugby League World Cup2 HOURS AGO «We would not have got this money if it hadn't been for Covid,» said Cramlington Rockets chair Jeffrey Ball.

«We were not in a position to go ahead and make the application last year. »The biggest silver lining of Covid is it's given us this opportunity to secure the World Cup funding, which allows us to be in the position we are now.

«It will provide a home for Cramlington Rockets and an accessible facility for the community that we're going to develop and hopefully expand in years to come. »It will give people somewhere to use, belong to and somewhere to explore other activities rather than hanging around on the streets, which is something we're quite conscious about given it is a recognised area of antisocial behaviour by the police." The Rockets have around 200 playing members across eight sides but, boosted by the new infrastructure, are hoping to branch out and begin a