EDRU was set up by a group of deaf sports enthusiasts. The purpose of EDRU was to promote the playing of rugby union by deaf and hard of hearing players.

EDRU was given charitable status on 8 February 2010. It has also been accepted as a member of the RFU family of elite teams.

EDRU has two main functions. Firstly it seeks to ensure that the game of rugby union is available to all men and women with hearing impairment. It does this by providing individual support at its open training sessions and guidance to parents of deaf and hard of hearing children. EDRU also provides deaf awareness to clubs with deaf and hard of hearing players. In addition EDRU have visited a number of schools for the deaf to introduce the game of rugby union.

Secondly EDRU is responsible for the administration and organisation of the England Deaf rugby team. In order to qualify to play for England Deaf a player must have an average of 25db hearing loss bilaterally. It means that deaf, deafened and many hard of hearing players will qualify and includes those who have hearing impairment from birth through to those who have incurred hearing impairment as a result of illness or injury. The World Deaf Rugby Union has a qualifying hearing loss of 40 dcb across both ears.

England Deaf Rugby play internationals against other national deaf rugby teams, most recently Wales Deaf and Italy. In addition England Deaf play against full national and international teams such as England Police and Bulgaria. England Deaf will also play demonstration and community games. All of these help to spread Deaf awareness and inclusion.

EDRU is run entirely by volunteers. Due to Covid the funding we used to receive from the RFU has been withdrawn, this has had a huge impact on us and reduces the activity we can commit to providing for our members. 

In order to facilitate the continuing provisions for our men and women we desperately need to raise funds.

Every training session and game requires qualified sign interpreters, physios and travel costs for coaches and staff.

As a charity that covers the whole nation, we have players and staff from all over the UK. We also try to visit as many areas of the country in order to spread awareness of our charity and expose as many men and women to the opportunity to get involved with us and also to spread knowledge and understanding of Deaf awareness to as many as possible.

For many of our members the training sessions and games are the only time they meet and socialise with other Deaf people. Being Deaf can be very isolating and this helps people meet with like people who face the same issues. Our members say being a part of EDRU is like being a part of a big family who are there to help and support each other.

Any funds we can raise would have a huge positive influence on the schedule we can plan for our teams and the community events we can organize.

Our members are highly committed and will travel for hours for a training session and we want to be able to continue with the success we have had in helping these many men and women realise that being Deaf or hard of hearing is not a barrier to sport.

Any contribution would be extremely appreciated.