Glyn Watkins. Chair of Trustees
I first came to Rwanda in 2013 as a volunteer with VSO. I worked in the west of Rwanda training teachers. I loved the experience and during my year there I helped form a rugby team at the teacher training college. This was when I found out about Friends of Rwandan Rugby.
I returned to Rwanda in 2018 working for a brilliant UK based charity called Rwanda Aid as a Disability Advisor and it was during this time that the opportunity arose to take on a fuller role as a Trustee of FoRR.
I am incredibly proud of the work FoRR does and have seen at first hand the huge benefits involvement in our fantastic sport can bring.
Mike Watkins. Treasurer
Matthew Phillips
It all began with a comment on a Facebook post in 2013. Fast forward to 2019 and I have embarked on 4 trips and become a Trustee! Little did I know when I expressed an interest in participating on the 2014 tour that I would become so enamoured by the charity and the work it is doing.
Rugby is built on values and camaraderie and it is these values that are making a difference to the lives of the children in Rwanda. Giving them an opportunity to express themselves and play together will add value to their lives for years to come.
Mary Watkins
My involvement with FoRR started in 2014 while working as a volunteer with VSO. I was training student teachers at a college and my husband, Glyn, started a rugby team there. The RDOs from FoRR helped to train the team. It is great to see how rugby has grown in the far west from such small beginnings.
On returning to the UK I continued to support the charity and really enjoyed joining coaches’ tours in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
I am honoured to be able to further support and develop the charity and am really looking forward to seeing rugby grow.
Mike Jones
I have been involved with FoRR since 2016 when I went to Rwanda as part of that year’s annual tour. I have been on the tour every year since and have visited on two additional occasions. The coaching is rewarding and seeing another culture and life in an economically developing country is a sobering experience and puts my first world worries and concerns into context. The enjoyment shown by the children and young people is infectious. FoRR provides fun and positive memories for the children we engage with.
For these reasons I have become more involved with the charity – it is definitely worthwhile.
Tina Cumberlidge
FoRR is a one-off inspirational charity! I became involved as a Trustee after I visited as a ‘tourist’ in 2018. Rugby has been a big part of my life for many years and after playing for Clifton Ladies and coaching Clifton minis which provided me with so much lasting enjoyment, camaraderie and community I felt I wanted to give something back. FoRR have developed something unique in Rwanda and after experiencing the difference it has made and continues to make to a country that has suffered so much I want to help make the joy that rugby is bringing to the people there to be everlasting. The Rwandans are wonderful, warm people and deserve all the support we can give them.
Ieuan Archer
I first visited Rwanda in 2018 having spent a short amount of time in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Rwanda, The Land of a Thousand Hills, immediately stood above the other East African nations as being more beautiful, safer, cleaner and the most welcoming. Given this, I promised myself that I would return.
In September 2021, it was time for me embark on a new adventure; deciding to return to Rwanda. Having played rugby for as long as I can remember with my hometown club, Aberdare, and with time to offer, I made contact with Friends of Rwandan Rugby (FoRR). I outlined my plan and explained that I would like to volunteer with the charity whilst in Rwanda. For me it was an obvious fit that would hopefully prove to be a win-win opportunity. Five months later, in February 2022, I have become a Trustee.
From my experiences volunteering with FoRR I discovered that the charity allowed children who had never seen a rugby ball in their lives to experience the enjoyment of rugby – that I took for granted growing up. At the same time, it was instilling the children with skills and values that are core to both rugby and life. These skills are discipline, respect, teamwork and friendship, all while using a sustainable rugby development model. It was therefore, an easy decision for me to join FoRR and support the growing rugby family here in Rwanda.
