News

England Touch and the British Heart Foundation have partnered up to launch The #TouchMyHeart Challenge 2020 to keep everyone healthy and engaged throughout the November lockdown – and to raise some much-needed funds for the BHF, too! Starting on Monday, November 9th, #TouchMyHeart will see England Touch put out one activity challenge and one Touch skills challenge each day for ...

Following today’s parliamentary vote confirming the four-week national lockdown in England, England Touch can now confirm that all training and playing must be put on hiatus until further notice. Grassroots sport has been prohibited during this period, and both outdoor and indoor leisure facilities – such as pitches available for hire – must close. England Touch urges clubs to ...

A new academic study from the University of Edinburgh has highlighted the wide range of health benefits which could be achieved by playing Touch. The study, funded by the Rugby Football Union and Scottish Rugby Union and published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, included Touch within broader research into the health benefits of rugby union. And while the fu ...

England Touch has achieved another milestone as an organisation with the appointment of Sammie Phillips as its first paid Development Officer. Sammie is one of the most familiar faces within the England Touch community and has a very strong track record of developing the sport at all levels. She has helped to drive the growth of Thames Valley Vikings into one of the country’s l ...

Sport England has updated its travel advice for sporting organisations and teams to take into account the UK government’s new Covid-19 Tier regulations. As an organised sport recognised by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Touch clubs can remain training regardless of the Tier your area is in. However there is advice in place to restrict travel between areas in differ ...

It is not just Sandy Park which has made Exeter a fulcrum for oval ball sports in England. Just up the road at Exeter University the Touch club has also gone from strength to strength over the past few years, and is now one of the largest clubs in the northern hemisphere with around 300 active playing members. This strength in numbers is reflected in Exeter becoming a leading l ...

There has been a spike of activity at Wellesbourne RFC over the past few months – and all of it on the field! The Ladies Touch Club based at the club has been attracting new members and forging links with other England Touch clubs within the area to become a big success story. Claire Davis tells us more… ‘Back in 2012, the WAGS of Wellesbourne RFC men’s team learned to play Tag ...

Touch teams across the country have been back in full training for just over a month now, and player numbers are in rude health with many clubs seeing increases. England Touch – along with the Touch offerings of the RFU and RFL – moved to Stage 4 in its Return to Play programme at the start of September, allowing for full training within clubs and inter-club fixtures while also ...

ECFB, based in Tring, Hertfordshire, is one of several clubs to become newly-affiliated to England Touch since the sport returned to play in September. Nick Brown from the club tells us their story. ‘We’ve been an informal group of older former rugby players and friends who have been getting together for a couple of years now for the fitness and mental health benefits of group ...

Mark Croston, the Chair of England Touch, has joined the leaders of more than 100 other sports in urging the Prime Minister to ringfence funding for the recovery of the sports and activity sector in the nation’s ongoing response to Covid-19. To mark the Great British Week of Sport, a letter has been sent to Boris Johnson highlighting the contribution of the sports and physical ...