Small grant ensures survival for Gwinear

[Dave Bartlam]

FA Grant ensures village's only Sports Club survives
At the end of last season, Gwinear Churchtown's boiler (which was older than some of its players) decided that enough was enough - as a result, both the home team and away team, along with the visiting Match Official would often find themselves either showering in cold water or having to go home to rid themselves of the Gwinear turf that had ground its way into their skin during the game.
This had a negative effect on all involved - the players suffered, the club suffered as it had to deal with the negativity surrounding the issue, the club sponsors at the Royal Standard Inn (behind the pitch) would also lose takings behind the bar as the players would boycott the warmth of the pub for the warmth of a shower at home.
Due to this, Club Chairman/Secretary/Local Legend Roland Thomas got in touch with Dave Bartlam at the Trelawny League to ask about the procedure to fold the club. He had lost the shower facilities and some players who wanted to get clean straight after the game expressed their intention to leave as well. With no money in the bank to replace the broken boiler, it looked as if this was the end for the club.
Dave B, aware of the Cornwall FA Small Grants Scheme immediately sent an email to Cornwall FA's Development Team (Daniel Greenough and Phil Cardew) to alert them to the possible demise of a long-standing club.
Two months later and after a small amount of administration, Gwinear Churchtown were awarded with a £500 cheque from Cornwall FA to help cover the cost of the replacement boiler.
Damo Walters, manager of Gwinear Churchtown said "Roland was first made aware of the scheme by Dave; he then contacted the FA and spoke to Dan Greenough about the situation facing our club. Dan then sent a couple of forms to Roland for completion. Shortly after, we were awarded a £500 grant which went towards a new boiler for the showers. This has had a massive impact on us being able to attract players and offer showering facilities to the visiting teams and referee. I’d like to thank the FA and the Trelawny League on behalf of everyone at Gwinear Churchtown F.C. for their help to ensure that the village football team continued to exist. For small clubs like ours where the players have to pay to play and where we have next to nothing in the bank, these small grants are so important to clubs like ours. Without them and the support of the League and County, we would have become another Club that used to play football here in Cornwall.
Our grassroots clubs often think that there is no money available to help them - they couldn't be further from the truth. The FA are now investing quite significantly to retain our clubs and players with small grants like this. For more information on the grants available, please use the link below.
Presenting the cheque to Gwinear Churchtown on Saturday was Trelawny League Fixtures Secertary, Independent Board Member and Small Grants Panel Member, Dave James. Dave had the following to say about the grant: "It gives me great pleasure to award Gwinear Churchtown with this cheque which has almost certainly helped the club to survive. Last season, the Small Grants Panel issued 32 awards for our clubs to help the sustain and improve their clubs. I am hopeful that we will match or even beat that tally this season.
These awards are to help clubs obtain much needed repairs or new equipment for their clubs. Grants cover things like line markers lawn mowers, new goalnets, storage and changing rooms containers, training lights and even pitch improvement visits by a grounds specialist to advise on any pitch issues which the clubs face. Gwinear have been a long-standing Club in the community and I am delighted that this small contribution has helped them to survive".
        
For more information on the grants, please visit the Cornwall FA page

[stevieb]

Great to see some good news on here well done to everyone concerned , mind you what is wrong with a wash down in a horse trough  in the middle of winter old style ? lol .

[Dave Bartlam]

@Dave Deacon would you mind correcting my short burst of disleksia on the title please

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

2 hours ago, stevieb said:

Great to see some good news on here well done to everyone concerned , mind you what is wrong with a wash down in a horse trough  in the middle of winter old style ? lol .

And they call them "the good old days" I remember a few horse troughs, chicken sheds and so on .....the good old days lol