WARDLE FC APPEALS FOR HELP TO STAY OPEN

Tue, Mar 10, 2015 12:20 CET

Wardle FC, which has been an integral part of the Rochdale community for more than 100 years, is making a heartfelt appeal to individuals and businesses for help after its clubhouse was condemned by the council.

The club, which can no longer use the facilities at its Rutherford Park ground, needs to secure portacabins or temporary facilities in order to stay open before raising £150,000 to build new facilities and secure the club’s future.

With a total of seven teams for children and adults, the club has links to hundreds of families in the community and is asking businesses to partner with them on kit sponsorship, to donate funds or materials and is asking individuals for any support possible in order to stay open.

Wardle FC chairman Rik Fielding said: “Despite a number of recent victories on the pitch, Wardle FC is gearing up for its toughest ever battle and needs genuine help to stay open. The great thing about Rochdale is that people always rally together in times of need. As such we’re calling on anybody and everybody in the community to assist us however possible.

“Aside from the fact that the club is part of the social fabric of Rochdale and gives hundreds of families a sense of community – it also provides youngsters with focus, gets them out in the fresh air and keeps them fit so it would be an absolute tragedy and a loss for the whole town if the club was forced to close its doors.

“The current clubhouse is in poor condition and has no gas supply or phone line. It needs knocking down and replacing with a quality new facility that has disabled access, four separate changing areas, a kitchen and an activity room. We would also like to install solar panels to make the new building environmentally friendly and cheaper to run. So if any local businesses or individuals could help in any of these areas, we’d be particularly keen to hear from them!

“In order to win this fight we firstly need to secure the donation of safe temporary facilities such as portacabins that can be used in the interim while we set about raising the £150,000 we need to unlock matched funding and secure the £300,000 required to complete the build.”

Rik concludes: “We are appealing to the good will of the community we love for any help possible whether it be the provision of a temporary structure, funding or donations of building materials – any assistance would be very gratefully received.”

For further information about Wardle FC, to offer use of a temporary structure or to make a donation please email fieldingrichard@sky.com or call Rik on 07759127135.

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Images:

Wardle Juniors FC