KESWICK RUGBY UNION

FOOTBALL CLUB

In the Lake District National Park

Flood News

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Keswick Rugby Club
Flood Recovery - a very special 125th Season Project

Club News, December, 2005

Since the flooding in January of this year the Rugby Club has been working hard to keep the club running as well as making plans for the future. Struggling off the field with limited facilities, teams across the age ranges have had an exceptional start to the season. Members of the Club have been working to ensure that fixtures are played. Through kind sponsorship by The Loft the seniors enjoy a free feed after the game in the warmth of their bar. The juniors are also fortunate to find sponsorship from the Neighbourhood Forum, local businesses and an anonymous donation of 500 towards providing food for the teams. They are currently eating chips from the local chip shop in the disused squash courts. Surprisingly the junior teams have not been put off by the somewhat limited dining facilities and turn up to play come rain or shine.

Keswick School Under 18's have for the 2nd year running performed exceptionally well in the Daily Mail Cup. After beating Hexham away last week they are now in the last 16 of the competition where they will meet Durham school after the Christmas break. They have also been invited to a Super 16 tournament, which is to be held in Warwick next week. This two-day competition includes some of the best rugby schools in England and Wales.

With regard to the rebuilding of the clubhouse there are lots of plans slowly coming together but as you will be aware no digging work has started yet. Below is a brief summary of the developments so far:

After some negotiations with the insurance company we finally agreed a figure of 190,000 for the damage that occurred in January.
The club has appointed a solicitor from Cobbetts of Manchester. Eric Quirk, a keen rugby supporter, has taken control of the projects legal side and is working closely with the committee.
Eric is concentrating on finalising a Heads of Agreement contract with the developer looking at purchasing some land off the Club.
An essential part of the plan is the negotiation with Cumbria County Council to purchase the freehold of the existing leased pitches. The good news is that we have now received an offer from the County and this is broadly acceptable. However we are concerned a formal approval to sell has to be taken by the full Council and we are currently being advised this could take until April.
Last week the Club received its RFU "Seal of Approval" and Sport England "Club Mark" from Steve Farr Head of Equity & Ethics of the RFU. This is a formal recognition of the Club's commitment to provide a safe and well run Club particularly for our many Youth players. This is far from a one off process and is reviewed by external experts on an annual basis. As part of the process the Club has to have in place a Club Development Plan covering all aspects of what the club does and will be used to help the Committee and volunteers drive the Club forward. The Club Development Plan will be posted on the web site shortly.
Sport England who potentially will invest in the Club has been kept in the picture about the developments so far. Information is being gathered in order to complete all the relevant application forms for funding.

Following the Club AGM, Trevor Keough who started as Project Manager has unfortunately had to step down and has been replaced by myself, Jonny Hume. If you have any comments or ideas about the project I would love to hear from you. Supporters and players can always see me at the club on Saturdays or if you would like to contact me please call 07730705234 or email project@keswickrugbyclub.co.uk I will be holding some informal update meetings in the future when there is more information to pass on to you so please keep an eye on the Reminder for these.