Guiseley Rangers ARLFC are among 148 local sports projects to secure a share of £9 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund.
Since 2011, Inspired Facilities has been helping breathe new life into tired community sports facilities and converting existing buildings into venues suitable for grassroots sport.
Guiseley Rangers Rugby League Club, based in North West Leeds, has received a fantastic boost with the news that it has secured £75,000 of National Lottery funding to put towards a new pitch side showering and changing facility. Since it was founded in 1978, the club has helped hundreds of local young people get into sport. The facility, which replaces a 25-year-old garage, includes four new changing rooms, all with disabled access. The club hopes that this will be a key feature in attracting new players, while at the same time improving the lot of those already enjoying their rugby league with the Rangers.
Sport England Property Director, Charles Johnston, said: “The Inspired Facilities Fund has had a huge impact on grassroots sport across the country. Since 2011, we’ve invested £102 million into more than 1,920 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.
“It’s great to see Guiseley Rangers join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”
Chairman of Trustees, David Clayton, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment which will enable us to provide state of the art changing rooms for both our own and visiting players. This will give us the opportunity to introduce more local children to the club. We would also like to re-introduce an open-age team and have had interest regarding starting up a Masters’ RL team. We have been actively fund raising for many years enabling us to contribute an impressive £40,000 towards development costs. I’d like to thank the small team of dedicated individuals at Guiseley Rangers who have worked tirelessly on our bid supported by Stuart Andrew MP; Nigel Harrison Chief Executive Officer at West Yorkshire Sport; David Raybould, National Clubs Manager at the RFL; Sam Horner at Leeds Rhinos Foundation and Mark Winder at Bradford Bulls Foundation. We also thank everyone who buys a National Lottery ticket and helps local projects like ours happen.”
Local MP, Stuart Andrew, said: “I am very pleased Sport England is providing this grant to Guiseley Rangers and the new facilities will help the club and the players reach their potential. I am excited to see the result of the investment and will continue to support the club both on and off the field”.
Guiseley Rangers, whose teams play in the Yorkshire Junior League, are now recruiting for the 2017 season which commences in March. New players, of all abilities, are very welcome. Anyone who is interested in playing or volunteering at a very friendly club in a great location should contact David Clayton (07946 319534) or email Helen Schofield (helen.rugby@sky.com).
#GrowingOurGame
