Over 250 men have so far signed up for Back Onside, a National Lottery-funded Sport England initiative that is being run by RL Cares at 11 professional Rugby League clubs.
Back Onside fixtures are free and take place at a range of venues, including club stadiums where participants join in light and moderate sporting activities under supervision from experts.
Chris Rostron, the Head of Rugby League Cares, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many men of all ages and backgrounds getting Back Onside and enjoying the benefits of exercise.
“The feedback we are receiving from across the clubs is uniformly positive: men are already reporting that they they’re feeling fitter and happier, and many are experiencing a bit of weight loss, which is great news!
“Although the first round of ‘fixtures’ has already begun, we would encourage anyone who wants to get involved to get in touch, either with Rugby League Cares or directly with the clubs where Back Onside is being delivered.”
Although primarily aimed at men aged between 35 and 64, Back Onside fixtures are open to all ages.
Back Onside is the latest health and wellbeing initiative run by RL Cares to make a measurable and positive difference to the lives of members of the Rugby League family.
More than 1,000 men have already engaged with Offload, our mental fitness and wellbeing programme that is being delivered at Salford, Warrington Wolves and Widnes Vikings.
In addition, hundreds of male and female employees at energy giants SSE and the Environment Agency have attended Offload in the Workplace fixtures run by RL Cares.
The charity’s commitment to enhancing the physical and mental wellbeing of the Rugby League family began in 2013 when we secured a grant from Comic Relief that helped fund important health programmes across the sport.
In the last five years, RL Cares has distributed over £1m through Rugby League club foundations and other agencies to allow them to deliver health and wellbeing programmes to fans and their wider communities.
Our success in securing resources for health projects has also seen RL Cares award financial support to State of Mind to help fund their campaigning work in the sport.
“We are justifiably proud of our success in delivering health and wellbeing programmes and our commitment to making a positive difference to the lives of everyone involved in the sport and its communities remains undiminished,” added Chris Rostron.
“None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our health specialists, Emma Goldsmith and Liam Parker, and the rest of the RL Cares team.
“We are also grateful for the tremendous support we receive from organisations such as the Big Lottery Fund, Sport England, the Francis Arthur Brookes Charitable Trust, Oddballs, Movember and Comic Relief.”
For more information on Back Onside, Offload and our other health and wellbeing projects click