Winter Sports - Rugby Union
Club members contributed to the Tree Belt ...
“A number of the trees were
... which was required as part of the planning application
contributed to the additional cost - trees, fence posts, whatever, were provided by our members”
provided by the Queen’s Jubilee scheme, but many club members
The Lymm Grass Roots Clubhouse Appeal was launched last year - ohhh no it wasn’t - ohhh yes it was!
28 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
“Then, as part of a wider restructure of the RFU, we went from four Regional Funding & Facilities Managers on the ground to six. It wasn’t a massive increase, but it did make a difference. Two national managers were appointed, myself and Ross Baxter. Ross now looks after the grants and capital side of things and I look to make sure that the funding is spent wisely in terms of quality and value for money. For example, Ross will say ‘right, we want to invest £5,000 in pitches’, so then it is up to me to make sure it is done in the right way, with agronomy consultants etc.” Ted goes on to explain that Lymm Rugby Club is a flagship scheme for the RFU. “It is one the RFU have been involved with for seven years. Lymm is a thriving rugby club, and has been for a number of years; lots of growth and lots of recruitment, but the problem was they were outgrowing their facility.” “As a ‘one pitch’ club, operating several junior and adult teams they had become, by necessity, somewhat nomadic and were having to use a number of facilities around Warrington and within the village; some quite a considerable distance away - schools, local authority pitches etc. And that had a knock-on effect. It was very difficult for players and families to come back to the club after matches. Therefore, it was affecting other things like bar takings and social events.” “We really needed to find a solution,” continues Ted. “The club are very proactive and have an incredible committee and set of volunteers. They worked very hard in the background, raising funding over a number of years and, ultimately, were able to identify a number of pockets of land locally and pursued one in particular.” “The club had always had intentions of buying further land to help develop the club,” explains Jim Knowles, “and had identified a couple of ten acre plots (both on adjacent fields) which the landowner was keen to sell. It was a case of working with the RFU to satisfy which one would be the best in terms of local planning restrictions and best topography for the new pitches.”
“As ever, with this type of development, the first thing you have to do is get past the local authority,” explains Jim. “We had to satisfy the conditions for change of use from agricultural to recreational land and, to meet the local authority planning requirement, put in a large tree belt. So, that started soon after we had acquired the land. We planted all the trees ourselves, with me overseeing the project.”
"A number of the trees were provided by the Queen’s Jubilee scheme, but many club members contributed to the additional cost - trees, fence posts, whatever, were provided by our members.” says Jim proudly. “We also had a battle with the tree preservation people to be allowed to fell a very large beech tree. We duly got our way after proving it was not safe, especially knowing how many children could be at risk from falling branches!” “The club had been raising money, but managed to secure the land via the help of a local businessman who donated a significant amount of money to the fund. It was then a case of getting the RFU monies to help pay for the building of the pitches,” Jim explains. “They initially came to the RFU in 2006 to talk through the plans,” continues Ted, “to which we gave our full backing, and the club proceeded to purchase the land. At that stage, our only involvement was for funding and we provided the club with an interest free loan of £100,000, which they are paying back comfortably over the agreed fifteen year repayment period.
The club has been very successful in fundraising initiatives to complement external funding. The Lymm Panto, as it has become known, is a huge success and has been produced annually for the past twenty-seven years. It regularly attracts audiences of over 1,400 people over eight shows, coming from as far afield as Yorkshire, North Wales and Leicestershire, often in buses, for a laughter-fest.
The pantomime’s reputation has even
spread worldwide, with requests for the DVD of the performance coming in from
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