Much-Needed Wimbledon RFC Changing Facilities Are Open

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Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond performs the opening honours

Wimbledon RFC's upgraded and extending changing pavilion has been officially opened by Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond.

Grant funding has enabled the club to extend its existing changing pavilion, which was no longer able to support the level of usage and posed scheduling issues due to limited changing space and communal showers.

Now the facility comprises: eight changing rooms, six of which are en-suite; two officials’ changing rooms (both en-suite); a large meeting room and office space, and a treatment room. 

The work was made possible thanks to a £50,000 grant from the Mayor of London: Sports Facilities Fund (MoL:SFF), which is delivered by the Football Foundation – the country’s largest sports charity. 

The existing pavilion, which hadn’t been upgraded in 25 years, couldn’t support the growing levels of usage. The communal showers had meant that fixture scheduling was problematic with male and female teams having to wait until the other had finished before using the facilities. Dedicated showers now mean that this is not an issue. 

Now, the club in Barham Road can offer its players and the local community a state-of-the-art facility. This will benefit not only Wimbledon RFC, but also St George’s University, Willington School, Putney High School and Old Johnians RC. A number of sports are delivered across these users including rugby, netball, football, athletics, running and cricket. 

The Mayor’s Sports Facilities Fund is part of the Mayor’s commitment to deliver a sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The aim of the Fund, which is managed on the Mayor’s behalf by the Football Foundation, is to increase participation levels in sport in London through the funding of affordable, good quality facilities within local communities in every London Borough. 

Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 15,000 grants worth more than £580m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £800m – over £1.4bn of investment into the grassroots game. The Foundation also managed the MoL:SFF programme on behalf of City Hall. 

Stephen Hammond, MP for Wimbledon, said: “I was delighted to unveil Wimbledon RFC’s improved changing pavilion, which is going to vastly improve the experience of all its users. Grassroots sports is hugely important in our area and throughout the country, and having access to facilities like this one is vital to encouraging more people to get active. The Football Foundation is working hard to support this vision, through schemes such as MoL:SFF.” 

Meg Gardiner, Honorary Secretary at Wimbledon RFC, said: “As Wimbledon RFC enters its 152nd year, we have been lucky enough to expand our facilities even further which would not have been possible with the grant from the Mayor of London: Sports Facilities Fund.  We are looking forward to our bright future.”

December 12, 2017