Project Status December 2019
Orrell & Winstanley Community Sports Club - our Joint Venture with Winstanley Park Cricket Club 13 of 18

13. Project Status December 2019


Christmas came early for the board & members of the Orrell & Winstanley Community Sports Club …. vacant access to the land on Winstanley Road to start our development work!

The farmer has now moved off the land, which means we can now start on work on the land itself. You may have already seen some activity on the land as our immediate plans for the land are to complete the work necessary to discharge the planning conditions and to start the other work on site.

We currently have a company on site who are detailing the exact boundaries of the land so that we can erect the fencing. There is also another company on site who are doing the soil content evaluation work needed as part of the planning conditions. Once they have been completed, we will begin the detailed drainage designs, erect the fencing and make a start on the entrance. We will also need to produce phased implementation plans. All this will take us up to June next year.

During that time, we will also begin the grant application work to help fund the development of the land; as well as continuing to press hard on the fund raising activities to raise sufficient funds to support the grant applications as the grant agencies expect to see a material amount of “matching funds” coming from any applicants.

You may think we’ve been rather quiet on the Sports Club development of late, but rest assured, we haven’t. There has been lots going on in the background such as liaising with Wigan Council regarding the woods adjacent to the land. This is a site of special biological interest so our fencing needs to both protect the woodland as well as our own land. We’ve also been agreeing the specification of the fencing with the Council’s Woodland Officer and agreeing the boundaries with the farmer; plus, all the legal work that has needed to be completed. We have also been collecting in £72,000 worth of donations from members and once we have applied for the associated gift aid, this will rise to approx. £83,000. This is a magnificent effort and thank you to all donors and particularly to the 28 individuals that donated at least a £1,000. This is enough to fund the activities outlined above. However, we have a target of raising that total to £100,000 by early next year as a result of additional donations and fund-raising activities which will be pursuing over the next few months.

This is a tremendous effort and thanks go to all donors and club volunteers for their help and support in achieving it. We estimate that we will need to raise a further £50,000 in the next year to provide sufficient match funds for our grant applications as well as investigating the possibility of securing the services of a professional agency to front our grant submissions to the major fund holders, ECB, Sport England, RFU, etc. Please remember all donations will be gratefully received no matter how small – every little helps in building the dream and creating a legacy for our members and the community.

Please don’t think that you can’t contribute either because you can’t make a lump sum (or a promise of a lump sum) payment. We’ve had a couple of members set up a monthly Standing Order to the club (in addition to their membership) and are making a monthly donation to the JV Fund. We are happy to extend this to any of our members and supporters who would like to contribute in this way. Please get in touch and we will provide you with details of how to do this.

Oh! did we tell you that we are now a registered CASC? Nearly 7,000 sports clubs in the UK have benefitted from registering as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs), a status which enables them to save vital funds to reinvest in community-level sporting activities and we are delighted to confirm that the Orrell & Winstanley Community Sports Club is now a registered CASC! This is great news for us all in that the club can now claim Gift Aid on any donations (received after 30 April 2019) and the donor can also claim tax relief on that donation. Everyone’s a winner!

CASCs were introduced by the government to promote public participation in sports. By registering as CASCs the sports clubs can also receive charity-type tax reliefs, benefitting from mandatory 80% business rate relief, corporation tax reliefs and capital gains tax relief on the sale of land (should we ever get to this stage). These savings will be made on a recurring basis and means that all monies raised can and will be reinvested directly into the running of the club for the benefit of the community.

The Rugby Section (Orrell RUFC) have been making great use of the conservatory on match days at the newly named Dr1ve Medicals Arena at St John Rigby. This is the first step in creating a place where members, players and guests can socialise before and after a match. It is a great reminder of the spirit and values that developed in the past from the social aspects of sport and helped foster the broad team and club spirit that brought the rugby club such great success in past years not to mention helping the fundraising effort for the Sports Club!

Another piece of good news is that the Cricket Club has been awarded ECB Clubmark accreditation
- a recognition by the ECB that it’s a well-managed club and provides a safe enjoyable environment for members of all ages to enjoy the game. Plus, the ECB see it as a necessary requirement to support a successful conclusion to any grant application, so it can only help!

The Cricket Section has also presented some ideas to the Board for sponsorship and additional fundraising ideas for the cricket season in 2020 and just in case you are wondering, cricket nets start again in January.

We will be hoping to erect some signage along Winstanley Road highlighting the new home of both Orrell RUFC & Winstanley Park Cricket Club. However, these require planning permission so we will be submitting these soon. The directors and board are also busy in finalising the constitution of the Sports Club, which we hope to present to you at the Club’s Annual General Meeting. This will be held in February 2020, but more details will follow nearer the time. We are also hope to be able to announce other sports joining us in the new year.

Anyone wishing to get involved with the Sports Club helping us with the many tasks we need to complete or to help with fundraising (in whatever capacity); then please do not hesitate to get in touch. Alternatively, you may like to come and enjoy the facilities at the Dr1ve Medicals Arena at St John Rigby. Executive Members from the Sports Club (both Orrell RUFC & WPCC) are usually there, helping out and/or enjoying the social activities as well as the match and are more than happy to have a chat about the development and our ideas. The next match is Saturday 30 November vs Cockermouth in the Senior Vase Cup. The following week (7th December); we will be having a Christmas get together at the match vs Hoylake. Everyone is welcome to come enjoy a mince pie, some mulled wine and a pint or two.

Keep in touch via our websites www.orrellrugbyunion.com or http://www.winstanleypark.play-cricket.com/ or social media via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.