A major £1.5m fundraising drive to make sweeping improvements to the club house at Keswick Rugby Club’s Davidson Park ground has hit the ground running.
Over the past decade the club has been saving and a third of the cash has already been raised but now the club is to embark on a determined final push to get over-the-line to achieve its cash goal.
“We have already got to the remit of having a third of the sum and have access to the second third through community bonds and the final third we will get through fundraising which we are about to start on a grand scale – but we still have a mountain to climb,” said rugby club committee member and U12s coach Carrick Wharmby.
Under plans to be submitted to the Lake District National Park Authority later this month, the old club house, which was built in 1958, will be demolished and a new elevated building will take its place. It will be two metres above the ground to protect the building from floods which have wreaked havoc in the past.
There will be a terrace on the ground floor, accommodating around 150 people, that will look out onto the pitch. Upstairs there will be a gym, a small function room and six changing rooms.
The club had four goals in mind in drawing up the plans and they are as follows:
- To stay dry;
- Be able to seat 150 people;
- To have six changing rooms;
- An upgrade to bring the club into the 21st century.
“It’s been on people’s minds since the floods of 1982 and with the more recent floods everything has moved forward a bit faster,” said Carrick. “Many volunteer hours have been spent returning the club to its current running state in order for community rugby in Keswick to continue.”
The club is growing with the formation of a ladies team – the Keswick Falcons – and increasing interest from junior players and the current changing facilities are inadequate.
“With the ongoing growth of senior rugby and the hundreds of juniors who take part each week, Keswick as a club and a town is enjoying great successes through sport,” said Carrick. “When it was built the current club house catered for a senior men’s team and since then alterations have been made to increase participation.
“We now find ourselves in a position where the facilities don’t stand up to the rugby we have to offer in between dealing with regular flooding,” said Carrick.
The 18 months of fundraising at Davidson Park starts on Friday (July 14) when players of all age ranges from across the county take part in 24 hours of tag rugby, starting at 6pm. It will be followed by a social event with a band at the club on Saturday.
In future there will be big and small events being arranged on a fortnightly basis with charity drives, sponsored runs, hill climbs, cheese and wine and bingo nights already in the pipeline.
If anyone is able to support the club financially or has any ideas or time to help out, then they should contact Carrick at the club.
