Sports Club Reports

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Hallmark May 2025

It has been a fantastic Spring here at Lacey Green & Loosley Row Sports and Social Club. We are seeing some groundbreaking developments with the patio now finished and the Padel Court making great progress (hopefully nearly complete now!). We have lots of exciting things happening at the club this Summer and we can’t wait to tell you more.

One of our most noticeable improvements over the last year, which was noted at our AGM, has been the improvements to the Clubhouse with the new patio, bifold doors and the decorating of the clubhouse. Thank you to our grounds team and sponsors for all your help so far: Tom, Jamie & Chris Oakford, Tony Comley, Rob Henry, Country Supplies, CCBS, PA Spittles Landscapes Ltd, Camcrete, Grant & Stone, Hawes, Stocken Farm, Surebuild and Simpatico, Paul Coombes, Apollo Trade Window Store Ltd. Dell Bros,Chris Dell, Kev and Hayden Kelloway, Chris Male, Phil Dell, Kenny Woodward and all the members and committee members who made it all possible!

The history of the Sports Club is complex but one of the main things that makes us unique is that we are funded primarily by the members of the club. We do not receive any annual income from the councils or the government. We do receive a small amount of money from the Parish Council to fund specific items and projects but this is ONLY by applying for grants. Everything that has to be done to maintain the club and grounds or purchased is funded through section subscriptions and fundraising. This includes everything from insurance and health and safety through to the maintenance of the tractor and the mowing of the grass. The upkeep of the grounds is completed by volunteers who give up their time to maintain the only open space the village has. The cost of maintaining the tractor and the grass cutting equipment is considerable especially when it comes to replacing the equipment once it reaches the end of its life. This puts considerable stress on the finances of the club which generally only breaks even on general income and expenses. The gang mowers which actually cut the grass have reached the end of their life and so we have been exploring ways to raise funds to replace them. Without the gang mowers we are unable to cut the grass and therefore the Sports Club will end up like a wasteland. The cost to replace these even for a second hand set is in excess of £12k. A new set would be in excess of £20k!

We have applied for and been granted a self matching grant from Sport England which will enable us to replace the gang mowers. Sports England will grant us £6,000 ONLY if we raise the equivalent through crowd funding but we only have a very limited time to raise these funds - ONLY 10 WEEKS! We will be launching the crowd funding page to start this project in July with a view to complete by the end of September. We NEED the VILLAGE to support and get behind this project so they can continue to enjoy the neat open space at the Sports Club. Please keep an eye on Facebook and the Village notice boards for more information on the launch of this exciting project and fundraising activities which we will be running. As mentioned before, the Sports Club is mainly run by a small group of villagers so please do support us while we embark on this challenging project. If you would like to find out more or would like to support us please do get in contact. Why not get involved in your village!

If we as a village don’t get behind village organisations and activities then these will slowly disappear!

We have a full summer of events planned with the bar now open on selected Friday and Saturday evenings if you fancy a drink and in addition to this some BBQ’s, Bingo and a Cream Tea, with dates to be announced soon! Our annual Summer Disco is on the 25th July with tickets on sale now. Make sure you are following our Facebook page for all the latest information or keep an eye on the sports club and village notice boards. There are other fundraisers in the pipeline with the other sections of the sports club so make sure you look out for information on our website (www.lglrsc.co.uk)

We have seen an increase in bookings for the club and hope to see this interest continue throughout the year. If you are interested in hiring the hall for any event please don’t hesitate to get in touch at [[1]]. We can host parties with or without a bar, or even be a meeting place for events and clubs!

Once again a big thank you to everyone who has joined us at the club or volunteered over the last year, without you we would not have a Sports Club.

We would like to extend our thanks and best wishes to Mike for all he has done for The Hallmark. We hope that someone will step forward so this important village communication can continue.

All the best,

The Sports Club Committee

Hallmark November 2024. We have had a great summer of cricket and tennis, now the winter is coming and the cricket has finished, the football season is well under way. We have just about recovered after dancing the night away at the Saturday Night Fever Disco earlier in the year, and now we look forward to the Race Night coming up!

By the time you read this the Race Night will have taken place on the 16th November! Thank you to our sponsors for the evening; Country Supplies and The Black Horse. Tickets have sold out within two weeks, which is a record for the Sports Club! Thank you to all of  those who have bought tickets and supported us. Next year we will look to make it bigger and better than ever so that we can sell even more tickets!

If you were unlucky and missed out on the Race Night tickets, we do have some other events planned which you can put in your diary. We are having Christmas Drinks on Friday 13th December, so it would be great to see some of you down the club for some festive cheer. We will also be hosting a Bingo night on the 22nd February, keep an eye on our facebook page and website for more details coming soon.

The renovation of the  patio is coming along well, and we hope to have it completed towards the end of this year, weather permitting…  fingers crossed! Thank you to our grounds team and sponsors for all your help so far: Tom Oakford, Chris Oakford, Tony Comely, Rob Henry, Country Supplies, CCBS, PA Spittles Landscapes Ltd, Camcrete, Grant & Stone, Hawes, Stocken Farm, Surebuild and Simpatico.

We have seen an increase in bookings for the club and hope to see this interest continue into the New Year. If you are interested in hiring the hall for any event please don’t hesitate to get in touch at lglrsportsclub@gmail.com. We can host parties with or without a bar, or even be a meeting place for events and clubs!

Make sure you are following our facebook page and website (www.lglrsc.co.uk) for all the latest information.

Once again a big thank you to everyone who has joined us at the club or volunteered over the last year, without you there would be no Sports Club for the village.

All the best for the holiday season, The Sports Club Committee

Hallmark June 2024. Report by the Sports Club Committee

Our amazing volunteer grounds team have been hard at work getting the sports field back in shape after the long winter, with the mowers receiving some much needed maintenance too! Many hours of work goes into making the field ready and looking great for cricket and other summer activities.

We have had the Sports Club AGM. Thank you to all our current committee for staying on for next year as well as a couple of newcomers, it is great to have such a strong group giving their time to running and improving the club. We discussed lots of plans and ideas for the future of the club and we can't wait to share more with you soon!

There has been some new work started at the club with some new bi-fold doors being installed. Thank you to Apollo Trade Window Store Ltd. and Dell Bros for your work on the installation. The next step will be redoing the patio area at the front of the club. This would not have been possible without the great fundraising we had last year, which means that we can afford improvements such as these and we can keep enhancing the club to look even better.

Our big summer fundraiser will be Saturday Night Fever and will take place on 6th July. It is certain to be a great event. Thanks to our sponsors The Black Horse, Country Supplies, Tyre Team and PA. Spittles Landscapes. We look forward to seeing you there!

Make sure you are following our Facebook page and Website for all the latest information about this and other events that we have planned. We are hoping to show some sporting events later in the season after cricket as well as a Bingo Night.

There have already been bookings this year for hiring the clubhouse including School Cricket Tournament and WI Ploughmans. We’ve hosted a range of successful parties and celebrations. If you are interested in hiring the club, please see more details on our website (www.iglrsc.co.uk).

Hallmark February 2024. Report by the Sports Club Committee

We hope that everyone is having a good start to the New Year. The Sports Club is having a great start with Tennis and Cricket sections being stronger than ever and the Youth Football going from strength to strength. The Club has had some changes in the last year with the playgroup leaving, however this presents us with a number of opportunities for the future!

It has been great to open the bar more frequently, which has proved popular and we are seeing an increase in bookings for the club. We hope to see this interest continue. If you are interested in hiring the hall for any event please don’t hesitate to get in touch at Igirsc.co.uk.

The Race Night went very well with our best year ever! We managed to raise £2,500 for the club, with over 100 tickets sold and a busy night at the bar! Thank you to everyone who came and those who helped. Special mention to Jane Oakford and Phil Duff for the Chilli, Cayleigh Pocock and Sam Oakford for helping on the bar and our “Bookies”. We were grateful to The Black Horse for sponsoring the event and to those who sponsored races including Tyre Team, Paul Spittles Landscape Gardening, Pokie, Leanne Page, Lynne Comley and Paul Ice Plumbing and Heating. This would not have been possible without Tom Oakford and all his hard work organising the event!

Looking to the year ahead we have lots of exciting events planned. Make sure you are following our Facebook page for all the latest information. However, we can tell you that we are planning a themed night at the club on the 6th July, so save the date and keep an eye out for more details. We will be looking into another Race Night in the Autumn!

Once again, a big thank you to everyone who has joined us at the club or volunteered over the last year, without you there would be no Sports Club.

Hallmark November 2023. The Sports Club Committee. So far we are having a great year at The Sports Club. We've had a great Cricket season, the Tennis club are doing amazingly and we had an amazing night at the 80’s vs 90’s disco fundraiser and we have the race night coming up!

Although The Sports Club and sections are doing well, we were sad to see Windmills Under Fives Playgroup fold earlier this year. They have been a great asset to the club since 2004 and will be missed. They have very kindly donated a bench to the club for its years of service to them.

It's not long now until our Race Night which will be on the 25^th November! Tickets are on sale from Tom Oakford (07443 518925) or from our sponsor, The Black Horse. You can name a horse and jockey from the pub for £5 and get a free bottle of prosecco if they win!

Of course, all of our plans are dependent on the hard work of our few volunteers and the continued success of our fundraisers. As a sports club and sports ground we are completely self funded and receive no public funding at all. Although the Tennis Club have received some small grants directly from the Parish Council. Without the few volunteers who keep the Sports Club solvent the village would not have a sports field for recreation. lf you would like to find out more or help in any way please get in contact.

It has been great to open the bar this year which has proved popular and we are seeing an increase in bookings for the club. We hope to see this interest continue as the Sports Club is now more available. If you are interested in hiring the hall for any event please don't hesitate to get in touch at Iglrsportsclub@gmail.com. We can host parties with or without a bar, or even a meeting place for events and clubs!

Once again a big thank you to everyone who has joined us at the club or volunteered over the last year, without you there would be no Sports Club for the village.