Kirkby Lonsdale Rugby Club tackling pitch flooding problems with Armistead Wind Farm Fund grants

A thriving South Lakeland community rugby club is tackling persistent pitch issues with the help of its latest four-figure grant from renewable energy firm OnPath Energy.

Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC has been working on long-term plans to resolve flooding and waterlogging issues at its Underley Park ground over the last few years which have previously caused matches to be postponed and training sessions to be regularly called off.

At the same time, the club has seen a sharp rise in the number of players on its books, particularly in its junior and women’s sections, with around 300 children taking part in Sunday morning practice sessions and with more female players expected to take up the sport in the aftermath of England’s recent Women’s Rugby World Cup victory.

With the increased demands being placed on its three pitches, the club arranged a visit from the Rugby Football Union’s grounds management specialists to get some pointers on managing the playing surface, with regular maintenance work now being carried out by a team of club volunteers.

A £3,593 grant from the community fund linked to OnPath Energy’s nearby Armistead Wind Farm paid for several tonnes of sand to be spread across the three pitches last year to help improve their structural stability.

And now, a further £4,500 grant will pay for the sand, seed, fertilizer and other materials that the club will need to keep making the required improvements through the rest of the current season.

Originally founded in 1877, Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC currently runs three senior teams, and has had a number of players who’ve gone on to win representative honours, while it is also part of a new initiative involving several Cumbrian clubs that aims to provide more opportunities for female players to give rugby a go.

Its junior section, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has around 350 players on its books, and runs teams in every age group from under sevens to under 16s.

It’s the latest in a series of grants that the club has received from the Armistead Wind Farm community benefits fund over almost a decade, with a £3,000 grant given in 2016 enabling it to complete an upgrade of its drainage system which stopped surface water overflowing into its car park.

A £1,000 grant awarded in 2021 allowed the club to properly repair the boundary fence along one side of its ground, which now prevents sheep in the adjacent farmer’s field getting onto the playing area, while last year, it used a further £3,000 grant to bring in a new aerator, which makes it easier to get rid of excess surface water.

Richard Harkness of Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC says: “Our pitches get an awful lot of use, which is great from a participation point of view, but the impact that usage this has, coupled with the intensity and volume of the rain that we often get here through the winter months, has caused us some real problems.

“Having had to call off a lot of games and training sessions as a result, we knew we needed to act to improve the long-term condition and accessibility of our playing surfaces, with the grants we’ve had from the Armistead Wind Farm Fund making a long-term difference to how much we’ve been able to do and how quickly we’ve been able to do it.

Richard Harkness – Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC

“The pitches have been holding up well so far this season due to the steps we’ve taken so far and seem to be able to recover more quickly after use, which is great news for everyone that wants to get out there and play.

“We saw a real surge in interest in rugby after the England men’s team won the World Cup in 2003 and we’re expecting to see something similar in the coming months after the England women’s team’s recent triumph, so we have to be ready to capitalise on it and bring even more players into our fantastic sport.”

Tom Chaplin, partnership and community manager at OnPath Energy, adds: “The club provides fantastic opportunities for local young people to not only develop their sporting skills, but to also learn the importance of things like teamwork, discipline and physical fitness.

“This is a great example showing how wind farm funding builds long-term, sustainable community value for people living close to renewable energy projects.

“We’re very pleased to be extending our long-term support for Kirkby Lonsdale, and hope to see it continuing to have a positive impact on both the ground and those that play on it.”

Environmental and community projects in the vicinity of the Armistead Wind Farm which are interested in applying to its Community Fund should first contact the fund manager via apply@onpathcommunityfund.co.uk or on 0191 378 6342 to confirm that their group or project is eligible.