Rugby

Bracknell Rugby Club chairman Ian Hallam at Bracknell Rugby Club where the changing room and showers which are to undergo complete renovation following a grant of £50,000
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£50,000 makeover for Bracknell Rugby Club

By Becky Barnes
January 28, 2013

Outdated showers and changing rooms at a sports club will be given a drastic makeover thanks to a £50,000 National Lottery grant.

Bracknell Rugby Football Club (BRFC) has won Olympic legacy funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund to rejuvenate its club house built in the 1970s, it was revealed today.

Officials at the club, which nurtured former England rugby captain Lewis Moody in his early years in the sport, hope the cash will help produce more stars of the future.

Ian Hallam, BRFC’s chairman, said: “I am delighted. This will allow us to renew a part of the club that had become sadly tired and overstretched.

“Bright and fresh facilities are an attraction to new players and will allow BRFC to benefit from the anticipated growth in interest in our sport as the 2015 World Cup comes to England and Rugby Sevens becomes an Olympic sport in Rio 2016.”

The club, founded in 1955 and based at Lily Hill Park since the late 1960s, needs modernised facilities to sustain the ‘massive growth’ of players, particularly in its minis, juniors and ladies sections, to more than 600.

The money will be put towards an £83,000 project to revamp the ground floor facilities with better gender separation, an independent changing room for match officials, and improved access and facilities for the disabled.

David Ryan, BRFC grant acquisition officer, said: “We’re all very excited. The showers at BRFC used to be something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

“This money, along with smaller grants from Bracknell Forest Council, and the Rugby Football Federation, will signal the biggest facilities improvement at the club for more than a generation.”

First XV captain, Matt Brambley, added: “That the planned refurbishment can now go ahead is fantastic news for all sections of the club.

“First-class facilities, combined with hard work on the training pitch, will help make Lily Hill Park a dominant home ground that we can all be proud of.”

The club is one of more than 1,000 sports projects across the country to receive a slice of £150 million Places People Play National Lottery-funded project to celebrate the legacy of London 2012’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Richard Lewis, Sport England’s Chair, said: “With so many clubs in the South having benefitted from this fund already and building on the success of last summer, this is the legacy people want for their local community.”

Earlier this month the club in Lily Hill Road was awarded a £8,000 grant by Bracknell Forest Council to make the ground more accessible for disabled users.

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