In the latest episode of Built, Managed, Lived, Jonny Holmes sits down with Nick Mason from Taunton Rugby Club to explore the role local organisations play in shaping community life across the South West.
For FirstPort, the South West is a region we know well. We have been operating here for more than 25 years, managing apartment buildings and residential estates across Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Our teams are local too, including colleagues who live and work in and around Taunton. That matters, because the best communities are shaped by the people who are part of them, not just passing through them.
A club that reflects its town
Taunton Rugby Club marked its 150th anniversary last year, a milestone that says a lot about longevity, local pride and shared identity.
Nick describes how the anniversary celebrations brought together a real mix of people. Not just sponsors and corporate partners, but junior parents, families and long-standing supporters, all in the same room. That blend tells you what the club is. It is not just a sports venue; it is a community anchor.
The club now has around 600 to 700 members, driven by a thriving junior section. Saturdays bring the first team crowd, but Sundays are where you really see the heartbeat: hundreds of juniors running around, parents and grandparents catching up over a coffee and a pasty, families spending time together because rugby gives them a routine and a place to belong.
Nick put it well. In winter, people’s lives can be dictated by Sunday rugby at Taunton. That is not a throwaway line. That is the role the club plays.
The community circle
One of the themes that comes through strongly in the episode is the way community support moves in circles.
A junior joins at seven. A parent watches every weekend. That parent might run a small electrical firm, a landscaping company, a local supplier. They start supporting the club because it matters to their child, then they bring colleagues, friends and customers into the fold. They sponsor. They book events. They buy lunch before games. They do what they can, in the way that works for them.
That is the point. There are lots of ways to contribute. Not everyone sponsors a kit. Sometimes it is turning up, buying the merchandise, or booking a meeting room. It all matters because it keeps the place alive.
This is where local businesses and local organisations touch each other in ways we do not always make explicit. At FirstPort, we have been proud to use Taunton Rugby Club as a venue for meetings and staff events for a number of years. On the day of recording, our teams were there for training. Nick makes an important point in return: conferencing is a major income stream for the club. It is part of the club’s bread and butter, and it helps fund what happens on the pitches and in the junior section.
So, when we choose local venues like this, we are not just booking a room. We are putting something back into the place we are part of.
When adversity hits, community shows up
The episode also touches on something many people across the South West have felt this winter: the impact of severe weather and flooding.
Taunton Rugby Club was hit hard. There is the obvious physical damage, but also the hidden cost: cancelled events, business interruption and the loss of revenue that supports facilities and youth sport.
What followed was a reminder of why community matters.
Nick talks about the JustGiving appeal and how quickly it took off, with people refreshing the page and watching the total climb. But he also talks about the support you do not always see publicly. Local suppliers offering help straight away. A landscaper dropping off sandbags. Builders’ merchants helping with materials. Painters and decorators offering their time. People turning up, not because it is good PR, but because the club is part of their lives.
Nick has been involved since he was seven, so he admits the community aspect can sometimes feel diluted when you are in it every day. It took a moment like this to bring it sharply back into focus: how much the club matters, and how many people care.
Giving back in practical ways
Another thread running through the conversation is how the club supports the community beyond sport.
Taunton Rugby Club does not operate with a single charity of the year, but it tries to support local requests where it can. That might mean donating raffle and auction prizes for local causes. It might mean players visiting local schools, including reading to primary school children for World Book Day.
Nick makes it clear that the club is not for profit. Any money left at the end of the year goes back into the club and into building for the next generation. It is a simple model, but a powerful one: reinvest locally, strengthen what you have, keep it going.
Built, Managed, Lived
This is exactly why we created this podcast.
The places we manage are not just buildings and estates. They are homes, networks, relationships and routines. Communities are shaped by the organisations that operate in them, the businesses that serve them, and the local institutions that give people a shared point of connection.
Taunton Rugby Club is one of those institutions. It brings people together every weekend. It supports young people. It provides a place for families. It creates pride in a town of around 60,000 people, a number that is not far off the scale of the portfolio we manage across the South West.
In short, it is a reminder that communities do not happen by accident. They are sustained by people who show up, organisations that invest, and partnerships that make sense locally.
If you have not yet listened to the episode, it is well worth your time. It is warm, honest and grounded in what community looks like in real life.
This episode of the Built, Managed, Lived. podcast is available now, via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
