Sarries committed to lifting community spirit

What does a Premiership club’s Community department do and why do lossmaking businesses invest in projects outside of simply playing the game? Despite their well-publicised transgressions, Saracens’ efforts in this area are outstanding, and their Chief Community Officer is Gordon Banks.

- COLIN BOAG

“The question about why we have Community programmes is a really important one,” says Banks, below. “I’ve been at Saracens for 17 years, so I’ve been asked it a few times.

“In the very early days of professionalism Saracens invested a lot of time and money into Community, and that was primarily driven by a need to grow the audience and fanbase. Nigel Wray has been behind this from the start, and Peter Deakin – sadly no longer with us – was very inspirational at Saracens in the early years, and had gained a lot of experience in America as a sports marketer. He came to Saracens and implemented a community marketing approach which Nigel got right behind.

“You won’t find a more committed rugby man than Nigel – he loves the game, loves the club, and loves the people. He’s said many times that the emotional commitment he has to rugby and to Saracens far outweighs the financial investments he has made. He has been our strongest advocate of the Community side of things.

“So, to answer your question, it’s a two-pronged approach: Community programmes are key to growing your audience, but they’re also just the right thing to do – once you understand the power of a sports brand and the effect that can have on a community and on individuals, you realise how important this can be.

“This year we’re celebrating 20 years of the Saracens Sports Foundation. In the early days it was heavily rugby focused, going into clubs and schools with the aim of growing the game – something we still do – but very quickly we started to think about education, and working with disadvantaged young people, so the evolution of the charity means that it has become all about using sport to deliver social change and make a difference.