Meet the St Helens rugby league team working hard on AND off the pitch

Its Facebook post speaks volumes about Portico Vine Amateur Rugby League club.

‘The things to do for yourself are gone when you’re gone, but the things you do for others will forever be your legacy’.

For it’s not just about getting results on the pitch that matter most to staff and players at the St Helens side – but what they do off it too.

The Scholes Lane club works hard to get results and achieve success in this fiercely competitive sporting world, admits chairman Mark Hobin.

But in addition to instilling respect, enjoyment, and positive experiences through rugby in its young teams, it highlights the need to work with the community, and for the community, too

Mark explains: “At the very heart of our club is our aim to provide as many life-enhancing opportunities as we can for our young people, making new friends and sharing experiences, all with the backdrop of rugby league.”

But he adds: “Off the field, we have a strong passion for working WITH the Community, FOR the community too.

“That was the sole motivation in the club acquiring funding to build a brand-new clubhouse that was completed in May, so it opened up the chance to create a ‘Community Hub’. And through that, we can do more.” 

* Despite only recently establishing the clubhouse in Scholes Lane as a Community Hub, it has already put it to use, reaching out to the local community to host ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ coffee mornings, bringing together council departments, housing organisations, and charities/hospices to highlight the support that’s available to those who need it.

* It’s supported mental health charities and organisations, giving them use of the clubhouse for meetings and seminars.

* It has linked into Merseyside Sports Games so they can use its facilities to host local school games and encourage physical activity.

And in January, it will begin building a memorial garden, that everyone in the area will be able to use and enjoy.

Mark says: “We are building a memorial garden that will bring our local community together and which will enable us to reach out to offer support to mental health organisations and local care homes. 

“We want to create a special place that will help members and non-members to remember loved ones, somewhere quiet and safe, a place they can visit and revisit, time and time again.”

And he goes on: “Our vision for this project is that the children of Portico Vine will be fully involved from the outset, learning new skills, learning about plants, flowers, and soil, so it will link them to biology and other sciences as part of a wider learning and overlap with their school curriculums.

“And, because we are blessed with such a rich amount of nature within our grounds, we believe this project could lead onto others in which we explore using the garden as a setting for nature walks, nature workshops, and other options to reduce anti-social behaviour and positively influence our children.

“We hope it will become a place that people in the community can enjoy for generations to come.

“Sport matters. Results matter. And the community matters. And we are dedicated to that, both on, and off, the pitch.”

Find out more here.