£50K gift from Barton Grange Garden Centre helps grow Garstang Sports Club appeal

Plans for major improvements to Garstang’s sports scene have been boosted with a £50,000 pledge from Barton Grange Garden Centre.
Charlie CollinsonCharlie Collinson
Charlie Collinson

The promise has delighted Garstang Sports Club, which needs to raise an initial £250,000 itself to trigger more big grants from national sports funding bodies to extend and modernise its

cramped and flood-prone Riverside clubhouse.

Club officials learned of the pledge this week after recently meeting with Barton Grange directors Peter and Guy Topping.

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Trustee Charlie Collinson said: “This is a wonderful gesture. We cannot thank Peter and Guy enough for their assistance in getting the fund started with such a generous donation.

“We explained that the new development and renovation of the existing building had been costed at £750,000 and that we believe £250,000 will have to be raised locally before approaching the national sporting governing bodies and Sport England for further financial assistance to complete the project.”

Now club officials hope Barton Grange’s pledge will be followed by more donations from local companies, housing developers and the public.

Barton Grange director Peter Topping said: “Sport has played a major role in the lives of our family, so we are pleased to help Garstang Sports Club to enable future generations to have the same enjoyment and benefits.”

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The fundraising campaign began last autumn, prompted by inadequate and cramped facilities at the club which is a base for local football, rugby union, cricket, tennis, running and canoeing groups.

There were also concerns about the predicted increasing demands on facilities, particularly from young people, as the area continues to grow as a result of new and planned housing developments.

. The clubhouse and grounds flooded during Storm Ciara last month and the expansion plans will incorporate specially designed flood protection measures.

The plans for the clubhouse include: several new changing rooms for teams and officials, a cricket viewing area and first aid room, a hospitality/meeting room, a WiFi-controlled cricket scoreboard, alterations leading to a bigger social area at the clubhouse, two new enclosed cricket practice nets and the adoption of renewable energy.

• Anyone wishing to donate to the appeal can contact Charlie Collinson by email at [email protected]

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