Old Penarthians RFC is launching a special Health Hub project believed to be a first in Wales.

It’s the brainchild of the club’s Head of Therapy and local osteopath, David Langdon, and with the support of club chairman Stephen Clarke, helps OP celebrate its centenary season by putting the health of its community as a central pillar of the celebrations.

They have been working with Pete Richardson, an independent Zinzino partner, and women’s team manager Emma White, to put together a programme of events and activities that will not only help the community get healthier, but also benefit the club financially.

The first stage was a competition sponsored by Pete for four people to win a simple finger-prick blood test to check their health levels. And Pete was on hand to present three of their winners with their blood tests.

Under the head of: “Would you give one drop of blood to predict your future health?” the competition was the first stage in a promotion to raise awareness in the community of the benefits of increasing Omega 3 intake along with other test-based nutrition solutions to common health problems.

David Langdon said: “We’d all like to live as long as our rugby club and to mark the launch of our centenary and our partnership with Pete, we gave four people the chance to win a simple finger-prick blood test to check their health levels.

We believe it’s a first of a kind partnership between a rugby club and its wider community to promote health and wellness through test-based, personalized nutrition.”

At the heart of the programme is the simple Omega 3 v Omega 6 balance test which will identify the state of your underlying cellular health – crucial in preventing what are known as the “diseases of civilization” – long term degenerative diseases that are all too common today.

The club teamed up with Pete and Zinzino to test four people as the first part of Pete’s generous initial £1500 sponsorship.

Steve, David and Emma have all taken the test and will share their results as ambassadors of the new health programme.

In addition, Pete and the team at OP are putting together a programme of events to help raise awareness of the vital role cellular health plays in our society and are gathering a team of experts to help educate and promote the vital role Omega 3, gut health solutions and other supplements can play in helping us be as healthy as possible.

Once the test results are through the ambassadors and competition winners will be urged to take on a four-month programme to improve their status – and then be retested to show how simple solutions can make a real difference. 

From that point the club will have a simple, scientific, message for its community – and living proof of the results. 

Pete said: “Once we have shown what the benefits are we hope to see lots of people identifying Old Penarthians as a Health Hub for their community – using sport as a driver for better health outcomes. 

“More than 95% of people fail the Omega 3 test – which I think is truly shocking.

“Now we have started a test programme at Old Penarthians, which is a magnificent example of rugby at the hearth of a community, and we hope when we really get stuck in with special sessions with doctors and other leading experts in the field, we can really make a significant difference. And we hope once we have shown what we can do, then other clubs across Wales and the UK can use Old Penarthians as a shining example of how rugby and other sports clubs can help improve the health of the nation.”