By Chappers
November 29 2013

London Welsh last night further layed out their commitment to the Oxfrod area when they launched their Partner Clubs Programme.Held at The Malmaison Hotel, one of London Welsh's existing partners.David Jenkins, Tom Willmington and Community Development Officer Matt Walsh, laid out a new initiative that will hopefully build partnerships, with clubs in the Oxfordshire area, whilst Steve Lewis, the club's Director Of Rugby gave a synopsis of the clubs time in Oxford and it's intentions for the future with regards to on pitch activities.

Tom Willmington explained how through their community development work in the schools they had realised there was an opportunity to further reach out to the rugby clubs in the area and went on to explain how partner clubs would gain access to various experiences such as coaching sessions, player appearances, matchday activities and most exciting of all the launch of the new exclusive 'kit-back' initiative , in partnership with Gilbert.

This is an exclusive deal with London Welsh and it's partner clubs, whereby they can earn credits for any money they spend on tickets at London Welsh, to the tune of 50% of their spend, these credits can then be used to purchase Gilbert rugby products for their clubs.

Matt walsh layed out the intentions to extend the junior rugby camps throughout the school holidays and how the juniors could benefit from training sessions with our qualified coaches and players, whilst having fun during the school holidays.

Steve Lewis went on to explain the process that had lead up to London Welsh's arrival in Oxford and some of the problems at the end of last season, which had once again contributed to a faltering start off the field, but further re-iterated London Welsh's commitment to Oxford by stating that, whilst the club was always looking for the best opportunity with regards to a  venue suitable for the league they would be playing in, they would definitely be playing in the Oxford area and would be moving the training facilities to the area in due course.

He went on to emphasise how well the club was performing on the pitch and the fantastic job that Justin Burnell had done, gelling a team together at such short notice , once again. He went on to point out that the championship was all about peaking at the right time and having your best players all fit for the crucial playoffs, he also let sip that with that in mind the club would very soon be announcing a new signing, and was always open to opportunities to strngthen the squad with the right players.

The whole event was once again well hosted by Malmaison, and appeared to be well recieved by all those who attended to represent their clubs.