A Tees Valley community rugby club is starting work on an environmental improvement project after the successful completion of a £20,000 fundraising campaign.
Yarm Community Rugby Club’s new Aislaby Road pitch is bordered by a public footpath that forms part of the Teesdale Way which has become overgrown and impassable, leading to walkers and dog owners coming onto the playing area.
The club set up a successful fundraising campaign last year to raise the £20,000 it needed to clear the surrounding scrubland, create a new 200m footpath and carry out around 400 square metres of bee-friendly, biodiverse planting which will encourage wildlife to thrive in the area.
A £2,000 grant from County Durham-based employer the Banks Group has taken the club past its campaign target, with local contractors CG Robinson & Sons and Wilkinsons Landscapes now being commissioned to carry out the required work.
Clearance and planting work is set to carried out over the summer to ensure the new plants can become properly established before the winter weather sets in.
Founded in 1997, Yarm Community Rugby Club’s main ground is on Wass Way in Eaglescliffe, but it has taken on the Aislaby Road pitch through a partnership with Yarm School to ensure it can offer its junior players and teams all the space they need to train and play.
It is entirely volunteer-run and currently has 11 teams in total, including senior men’s and women’s teams, a junior girls’ team and junior boys’ teams at a range of different age groups.
Dave Jones, chairman at Yarm Community Rugby Club, says: “We’re very much a community club and do as much as we can to give back to the place that we play and where our members live.
“We’ve taken on the Aislaby Road pitch to make sure we have all the space we need to train and play, and while it’s a great facility to have, it quickly became clear that the overgrown footpath was going to be an issue that we had to address.
“We had a brilliant response to our fundraising campaign from individuals and businesses, as well as from our members and sponsors, and we’re now ready to get on with the job.
“The changes we’re going to be making will not only reopen the path and ensure that walkers and dog owners can stay off our pitch, but it will also really help to bring the area back to life by encouraging birds, insects and other local wildlife to thrive.
“The funding we’ve had from the Banks Group has been the final piece of the jigsaw for getting this project underway and we’re excited to see how things take shape over the summer.”
Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: “This is a brilliant project that will make a big difference to both the club and people living in and visiting the local area, and we’re very happy to be supporting the community spirit that Yarm Community Rugby Club is showing by taking it on.”
The Banks Group’s community funds are independently managed by Point North (formerly the County Durham Community Foundation).
Anyone from a community close to a Banks Group project who is interested in applying for funding from the Banks Community Fund should contact the company via its website enquiry form (www.banksgroup.co.uk/contact-us/) to find out if their group or project is eligible.