Reigate Rugby Club were big winners at this year’s Reigate & Banstead Sports Awards, picking up two of the biggest gongs on the night – recognising achievements at club and individual level.

Chairman Dec Skehan collected the trophy for the hotly contested Club of the Year award, a testament to our achievements in providing recreational and sporting opportunities to local people. Whilst rugby is at the heart of most of our activities, we also welcome Reigate Womens Lacrosse and Reigate Priory FC. The former now calling Colley Lane their home, opening our grounds and facilities so both teams can train and host league fixtures.

Club President John Mckee stated “We won this award for many reasons not least the 60+ volunteers who give up hours each week to provide fun and competition for 6-60 year olds. I’m proud that as a club we invest everything back into providing some of the best facilities in the local area. In 2022 we continued to invest in our pitches, we invested in new flood lights, a complete club house refurb’ and a purpose-built room for our club physio. In 2023/24 our goals are bigger; we are actively working to give the green light on our most ambitious project to-date which is the complete installation of drainage across our pitches. This award recognises how successful we’ve been off the pitch which means we can keep rugby and other sports on it.”

Runners up for Club of the Year were Reigate Womens Lacrosse, who we are thrilled to have as part of the family. Being able to now call Colley Lane their home provides the certainty for them to fulfil their ambitious expansion plans

Another of the biggest scoops at the awards for Reigate Rugby Club was the recognition of our very own Lucy Hill as “Volunteer of the Year”. This prestigious award acknowledges the time and effort so many people put in at various sports clubs around Reigate and Banstead. Lucy puts an incredible amount of hard work in behind the scenes, for several years she’s been at the heart of our fireworks night – orchestrating not only a team of volunteers and suppliers but ensuring a memorable evening for over 2,000 local people. In addition, Lucy is Team Manager for the U14’s and tirelessly provides teas, hot food, kit and whatever is required on the day to keep the side running. Thank you Lucy for everything – this award is truly deserved.

We are so proud to have won both awards and have our continued strength as a club recognised by the local community. Rest assured though, we’re not going to be patting ourselves on the back too hard or for too long, we’ve got big plans in the pipeline to continue to develop our facilities year-round and broaden our potential reach.