The Dubai 7s team have just returned from the 4^th year in a row of visiting North Road Primary school in Mbale, Uganda to see how the money raised through the Dubai 7s for Good initiative has been spent since last year.

Located in Eastern Uganda, North Road Primary is a vibrant hub where sport, especially rugby, plays a central role in the school's culture. Through our partnership over the last 4 years, we have already delivered essential upgrades, including a regulation rugby pitch with bleachers, safe water stations, and refurbished classrooms with new doors and windows, all of which help create a more dynamic and inclusive learning environment – which we were certainly able to see first-hand on the trip this year!

Throughout the week we were able to get stuck in with the upgrades and assisted with finalising the building work on the new changing room facility including plastering, painting the walls, and fixing the internal structures.

A big part of the impact we are able to impart on the community is rugby coaching – the 4 coaches that came on the trip from Dubai were able to provide coaching sessions to over 50 rugby coaches from schools and clubs across the region on the new rugby facilities at North Road, giving insightful tips and tricks, meaning the coaches can in turn provide effective coaching to their teams and students.  

For the first time, we were able to bring with us a local sports team from Dubai on the trip, and it was a privilege to have 8 netballers from the Dubai Hurricanes netball team along with 3 coaches join us the trip. This meant we were able to assist with netball coaching as well as rugby this year, which was hugely beneficial for the growth of the sport at North Road an the Mbale region.

The new netball court which has been funded and constructed by the Dubai 7s for Good programme elevates North Road even further as the home of sport in Mbale town – and gives the schools even more opportunities to host local events and tournaments. The netballers were not afraid to get their hands dirty and were a great help in finishing the schools’ brand new sports changing rooms too!

On day 3 of the trip, the team visited a rural area in Mbale where they planted 1,100 eucalyptus and fruit trees at a plantation. The purpose of this initiative is to eventually provide revenue for North Road primary school in the form of timber grown in the plantation, as well as provide fruit for the kids at the school. This initiative also over-exceeds the project’s CO2 emissions.

The week will culminated in a community-wide sports festival featuring a rugby and netball tournament, drawing teams from 12 surrounding schools for a day of celebration, competition, and connection.

“Dubai 7s For Good is more than a CSR programme,” said Matthew Burn, Programme Lead. “It’s a commitment to purpose, people, and progress — and we're just getting started.”

The Emirates Dubai 7s Long Lunch is a staple fundraiser for the initiative, raising over AED 650,000 in 2024 alone, thanks to the support of more than 800 attendees. We hope to raise even more during the upcoming Long Lunch this September - these funds directly empower projects like those at North Road Primary and help fulfill the programme's broader mission, which is using sport to enrich lives and build understanding across borders.