Southwark and the wider inner-London area

Southwark is an inner-London borough with a high population density (c300,000 inhabitants) high diversity and a majority BAME population in areas close to Southwark RFC.  Roughly 20% of children are living in households that are claiming out of work benefits and 27% of children by Year 6 are classed as obese. These statistics are more extreme for wards such as Camberwell Green, Faraday, Newington, North Walworth and Old Kent Road where 51% of year 6 children are classed as overweight or obese. North Walworth has a deprivation score of 39 points which makes it one of the most deprived areas in the UK. A report titled “Youth Violence & Knife Crime in Southwark” found that between April 2017 and March 2018 Southwark had the highest volume of knife crime in London with 781 offences. Offences took place predominantly between 15.00 – 17.00, Monday – Saturday. The scheduling of after-school rugby sessions to run from 15.00 – 17.00 acts as a perfect diversion during these crucial times.