£18,000 grant for Rugby Club

New and founder members with Ted Taylor

On Sunday, Knutsford Rugby Club unveiled their new club gymnasium which was funded through a generous grant awarded by the Foundation for Sports and the Arts.

The gymnasium, located at Egerton Youth Club on Mereheath Lane is one of a number of projects that the club has initiated this season in a bid to maintain its success as one of the fastest growing Rugby Clubs in the land.

The gymnasium contains a selection of aerobic machines, including a treadmill, cross trainer and rower along with weights machines and free weights. The centre piece of the gym is a weight lifting machine acquired from the British Olympic Taekwondo team who are based in Manchester. The award of £18,000 has been put to great effect as the club has also managed to purchase a ‘top of the range’ Scrum Machine within the 18k budget.

Knutsford’s Chairman, Gareth Walton who orchestrated the grant application and managed the project is delighted with the achievement.

“It’s incredible how successful the project has been and we are so excited to have this facility available to our members. Without question it is the FSA (Foundation for Sports and the Arts) to whom we owe the greatest thanks but the members also deserve recognition for their immense efforts as this has been a real team effort” remarked Walton at the official opening.

“Special thanks must also go to Sam Fishburne who masterminded the refurbishment and installation, Tom Irvine of TFI training who lent his expertise to sourcing the best equipment available and Artist Chris Edmonds who spent many hours creating the fabulous mural of the Town’s Crest that dominates the gym’s interior and will provide all the motivation that the lads need to train that bit harder” he added.

“Ironically, the current climate actually worked in our benefit as we were able to negotiate incredible discounts enabling us to ascertain some of the best equipment around” commented Walton in relation to the current state of the economy.

Ted Taylor representing the Foundation for Sports and the Arts was impressed with what he saw.
“I am delighted that the Foundation’s grant has enabled the Club to create such an impressive facility. It is our mission to support developing sports and developing clubs and Knutsford Rugby Club is an excellent example of a club going places. I hope that the members of the club are able to enjoy the benefit of this award for years to come” said Taylor after he opened the gym for the first time.

A unique highlight of the project is the Mural that has been painstakingly painted onto the gym wall. The Mural is that of the Town’s famous Crest which the Club adopted as its badge following its formation in 2004. The fact that Knutsford Rugby is in just its fifth year makes the development all the more remarkable and demonstrates the drive and ambition of all within the set up. The desire and passion throughout the club, from the under 6’s through to the veteran ‘Kasuals’ should enable the teams to continue their consistent rise through the leagues in seasons to come.

“We are determined to provide our senior and junior players with the best opportunities possible to excel themselves within our sport and we hope that the gym development may attract other local rugby enthusiasts to join forces with us. We are a club for all and we are developing teams for people of all ages and abilities” said Walton.

To find out more about the club and to learn about how to become a member please visit www.knutsfordrugby.com or drop Gareth an email; chairman@knutsfordrugby.com.