Sport England Grant Won!

Published 01:00 on 14 Aug 2013

Many of you will remember that in early 2012, we asked everybody to complete a questionnaire asking various questions about the club. The General Committee was seeking to find out what you liked and disliked about the club and most importantly, what changes could or should be made to enhance your enjoyment of it. We received many responses and many views on just about every aspect of club activity, and based on the results of the questionnaire, a Club Development Plan was produced and then presented and agreed at the 2013 AGM.

One thing stood out: the state of the changing rooms! They were almost universally regarded as inadequate, and many of you made the updating of the changing rooms a No 1 priority for the club you may recall seeing in the clubhouse some drawings prepared by Ian Pratt offering a view of how the changing rooms might look in the future.

Armed with an agreed Development Plan, the General Committee then initiated a bid to obtain money from the Inspired Facilities fund managed by Sport England, the source of this fund being the National Lottery. The bid process was calmly and very ably managed by Malcolm Clements who had the unenviable task of rounding up the Officers and members to provide the necessary input, and ensure we met the tough bid deadlines.

I am pleased to announce to members that our efforts have been successful and we have been awarded the maximum amount possible by Sport England – £50,000 which will go a long way to fund the changes that we wish to make.

I would personally like to thank all those involved in making this outcome possible, and Malcolm deserves special praise for his efforts as do the Flag Officers and General Committee members who have supported this process from the beginning.

However, there is more to do. Our most immediate task is to find the additional funds needed for us to be able to finalise a design for the changing rooms and to initiate the work in the certainty that we have the money we need to complete the work in the shortest time possible. The General Committee will be looking at this issue with urgency and we will keep members informed on progress. Adrian Mickleson will take the lead on this and his immediate supporters will be Malcolm, Graham Bartholomew, Gavin McCosh and Steve MacDonald our appointed external advisor. However, if you have particular expertise which you know can help us, please make yourself known to Adrian or myself.

My personal view is that the winning of this bid demonstrates what we can do as a club if we use our imaginations and not let difficulties provide an excuse for inaction. It also enables us to set in train a set of actions which will secure the future of the club and provide us all with amenities we can be proud of.