The club’s Abergwili site is used by all teams for training purposes, but with insufficient changing facilities, and only a mobile kitchen, the facilities were not ‘fit-for-purpose’ in the words of the club and provided no communal space in which teams and other groups could gather.
By accessing public and private grants and through club fundraising, the club completed the £160 000 project and WRU Group Chief Executive Martyn Phillips recently opened the facility.
Chairman Brian Jones said, “The old wooden pavilion was no longer fit for purpose and our 225 junior players and parents had to eat and drink outside which certainly wasn’t ideal.
“Many parents remained in their cars whilst their children trained in the dark winters and there was very little interaction between them as a result, except on Sunday mornings when the matches are played. In other words, everyone turned up to a training field that had no building where people could meet, socialise and eat at a table or drink a coffee under cover. All that has changed now and we have a multi-use space for use by all our teams and the wider community and it is something that we can all be proud of.”
The club received a £40 000 grant from CWM Environmental, a £15 000 WRU Facilities Grant to improve the facilities for the Mini and Junior section, raised £80 000 from club fundraising and a £26 000 private donation enabled the completion of the summer re-build which includes a physio room, analysis equipment, a social facility and overspill changing rooms.
Mr Jones added, “Substantial money saved by the Juniors over 10 or so years, a substantial grant from the local recycling and landfill business, and a WRU grant made a considerable contribution to the necessary amount needed to replace the condemned existing wooden building with something modern and practical.
“We, as a club, are delighted with the layout of the new facility and the combination of toilets, physio room, kitchen, store room, coaches room, team meeting room and open area for general use is just about perfect. We have a very economical ground source heating system and the facility is already being used by all our teams and the local community groups including Young Farmers along with meetings and parties.”
Martyn Phillips commented, “It was a pleasure to open the new training space. There is clearly a very strong community feel at the club which will only grow now with the improved facilities off the field bringing the whole club together.”
