Scottish Rugby completes £1.6million Club Sustainability Fund

Scottish Rugby completes £1.6million Club Sustainability Fund

Grassroots rugby across Scotland will benefit from a new £513,000 investment as Scottish Rugby announces the final round of funding in this cycle of its £1.6million Club Sustainability Fund (CSF).

This year’s successful applicants will receive investment towards projects worth a total of £3.9million, which will improve club training and playing facilities.

Over the course of the four-year programme 31 rugby clubs have received support from the CSF for capital investment projects totalling £17million which includes over £2.7million from sportscotland.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s fund at Waysiders Drumpellier, President of Scottish Rugby, Rob Flockhart, said: “We are delighted to continue supporting clubs across the country again this year with this round of the Club Sustainability Fund.

Over the course of this funding cycle we have helped improve club facilities for players at all stages of their rugby careers and hope to see that reflected by continued development in the grassroots game.”

The fund assists clubs in developing and improving the infrastructure of Scottish domestic rugby, enabling them to apply in a single process for the Club Sustainability Fund and the sportscotland National Lottery fund, which itself has contributed £358,000 to projects this year.

Lead Manager of sportscotland’sSports Facilities team, Graham Finnie, said: “At sportscotland we are working with partners like Scottish Rugby to ensure that clubs are part of the fabric of their local communities and are supported to play their part in developing a world-class sporting system right across Scotland.

“The Club Sustainability Fund is designed to help clubs offer a better experience for their members and build capacity to attract new members by investing funding from The National Lottery and BT. There are some fantastic projects receiving investment, including Waysiders Drumpelier, a club with inclusivity already at its heart, and this funding will enable them to improve their facilities and really deliver on their community engagement ambitions.”

Following BT’s landmark sponsorship of Scottish Rugby, the governing body created the Club Sustainability Fund to enable clubs to make improvements.

Brendan Dick, BT Scotland Director, said: “We’re really pleased to see the impact the Club Sustainability Fund has had at a grassroots level since its launch.

We know what a difference these grants make to local clubs, their members, players and the communities around them. It’s a privilege to be involved in supporting club rugby in Scotland.”

This year’s award recipients include Waysiders Drumpellier who will extend their clubhouse and refurbish their existing changing facilities after receiving £50,000 from Scottish Rugby.

Based in Coatbridge, Waysiders Drumpellier have worked hard in recent seasons to ensure that everyone is included at the club their President, Chris McGuigan, believes that the award will have a deep-rooted effect at the club.

He said: “Funding schemes like this are invaluable to grassroots rugby, without the support of Scottish Rugby and sportscotland it would have been nigh on impossible for the club to raise the funds needed to deliver a project of this size.

The Club Sustainability Fund will completely change how we operate.

“It will allow us to expand our membership and grow the game at Waysiders Drumpellier as well as enabling us to be more inclusive in accommodating girls and our growing youth teams.”

Scottish Rugby’s Head of Club Services, Nick Rennie, said: “Working with sportscotland together with the BT sponsorship we have been able to make a significant investment in the domestic game over the course of this funding cycle.

“Clubs like Waysiders Drumpellier are working hard to develop rugby in their communities and, by investing in their facilities, they will help attract new players and boost retention.”

Elsewhere in the west, GHA have been awarded the maximum amount of £50,000 towards installing a 3G pitch at their club while Kilmarnock will build a new changing pavilion having also been awarded £50,000.

Cartha Queen’s Park receive £38,973.34 to improve their floodlighting, which in turn increases their training area.

Greenock Wanderers will benefit from £35,505 to make improvements to two grass pitches at their club.

Highland side, Ross Sutherland, who recently appeared at BT Murrayfield in the final of the BT Men’s Bowl, also receive £50,000 to upgrade and renovate their clubhouse.

In Edinburgh, Murrayfield Wanderers and Edinburgh Accies both receive the maximum of £50,000 to upgrade two pitches and install an active grass hybrid pitch respectively.

Newton Stewart have been awarded £50,000 to improve pitch drainage and develop additional changing and gym facilities.

Stirling County benefit from £47,920 towards upgrading the drainage and playing surface on their third pitch and Perthshire receive £41,501 to convert existing, under-utilised rooms into a Strength & Conditioning facility and a coach education room.

Scottish Rugby will continue to support unsuccessful applications to develop their projects for future investment opportunities.

Club Sustainability Fund Capital strand fourth round applications

Club Name Project Outline Scottish Rugby Award sportscotland Award
Perthshire Convert rooms into S&C facility and coach education room. £41,501 N/A
Greenock Wanderers Pitch improvements to two grass pitches. £35,505 N/A
Cartha Queen’s Park Improve existing floodlights to increase training areas. £38,973.34 N/A
GHA Install a 3G pitch. £50,000 N/A
Stirling County Upgrade drainage and playing surface on 3rd pitch. £47,920 N/A
Newton Stewart Improve pitch drainage and develop additional changing and gym facilities. £50,000 £100,000
Ross Sutherland Upgrade and renovation of clubhouse. £50,000 £100,000
Kilmarnock Building of a new changing pavilion. £50,000 £100,000
Waysiders Drumpelier Extension to clubhouse and refurbish existing changing facilities. £50,000 £58,000
Murrayfield Wanderers Upgrading of two rugby pitches. £50,000 N/A
Edinburgh Accies Improved playing surfaces with installation of active grass hybrid surfaces. £50,000 N/A

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