The judges, who included Andy Reed MP (Loughborough), Mike Horah, Head of Social Marketing at the Department of Health, Catherine Sermon, Community Investment Campaign Director at Business in the Community and former England rugby international, Derek Wyatt MP (Sittingbourne and Sheppey), chose the club for the depth of its commitment to their community and local partnerships, the effectiveness of their work and their willingness to adapt and learn from the work they do.

"Newcastle Falcons provide a perfect example of the positive impact that sport has on local communities across England. They impressed all of us when they cited their work in the community as central to their vision of the club's long term future, but also with the joined up approach they have taken to working with other community partners, notably the RFU," said Derek Wyatt MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby Group.

"I felt enormously proud of the work our three clubs presented today", said Premier Rugby Chief Executive Mark McCafferty. "Their community work was of a consistently high standard and was in many cases innovative.

The Rugby Citizenship Award is a celebration of Premier Rugby clubs' community outreach programmes, which have a proven track record in tackling social, environment and education issues.

Premier Rugby clubs invest approximately 5% of their turnover in community programmes - around £2M every year.

Across the country, Premier Rugby has over 25 private and public sector community partners and is running programmes in the fitness, sports, health, education and social inclusion areas along with its clubs and partners. The schemes are delivered by the full time equivalent of 50 Community Development officers, 100 volunteers and the players. In total, Premier Rugby clubs contribute 100,000 man hours per year to community work.