Unfortunately, on Sunday 12th January we have seen our club football pitches severely vandalized by the use of a quad bike. So much so it was reported in the Manchester Evening News Paper, print and online.

The issue again now is that our teams may not be able to play football on the pitches for weeks, the kids are going to suffer due to mindless vandals again ruining what we as a club are trying very hard to provide. All members of the club are volunteers giving up their time to enable young children to get out of their bedrooms and onto the pitch enjoying what they love to do. The pitches this weekend have been severely damaged.

We have been working with the council for two years trying to get a fence installed to stop this kind of thing from happening. Recently we managed to have a knee rail surrounding the pitches installed which will prevent cars accessing but sadly not quads or motorcycles. We still want to have a fence installed as other local parks have, however this is proving very difficult to achieve for several reasons.

With this happening we need to get pitches repaired asap. Aside from all this mindless damage we do have other pitch repairs required to bring the pitches back to their best. Our funding is simply through sub payments and sponsorship's so money is simply not available to fund these kinds of nasty surprises.

We will also look to the council to help with funding and repairs, should we manage to gain some support from the council, any monies made in excess of the required funds would go directly to improving the new junior greens by the club house which also need serious work. The new pitches which will require work will give our 3-10 year old budding footballers a cleaner, safer environment to enjoy the sport they love.

So, we appeal for your help however big or small, every donation helps.

We thank you all in advance.

Parkwyddn JFC

CLUB STATEMENT

https://www.parkwyddnjfc.uk/club-statement-please-read-just-giving/

We have some important news following the recent vandalism which happened last weekend on our main pitches and our current Just Giving Appeal. Over the last few days we have been in discussion with the local council trying to fully understand the cost and methods we can use to have the repairs carried out so we can get our teams playing the game they love again as quickly as possible. The council have been great, unfortunately there will be no quick fix possible, however they will prepare a fix good enough to make the pitches playable again hopefully in time for this weekend, if not next. The council will be preparing some paperwork to show the long-term cost of putting the pitches back to their best possible condition as they were pre-vandalism. We have informed the council of the just giving page we set up in order to help the club pay for the pitch repairs making them playable again with minimal disruption.

Over the last year or two we have had numerous discussions with the council putting forward our ideas for having a fence installed around the grassed area of the recreation ground as Winton or Eccles parks both have. There were several reasons against this at the time, but this is certainly something we will pursue again in the future. From these discussions we did manage to have the knee rail installed at both ends of the park, which was a huge improvement on what we had, however, obviously this solution has not prevented the continuous attack on our pitches.

So, what does all this mean and what does it mean for our just giving appeal. Well, in summary, the council have suggested that they will generously repair the pitches at no cost to the club which is great news. We have offered to use the funds raised to pay for all materials etc, but the council have proposed a counter solution that would be better for all.

As we are now close to signing the final agreement on the new club house ready to fully take over the property giving Parkwyddn sole use for their members, they propose the following. We let the council take care of all the repairs to the damaged pitches over the coming months. It will be a long process, but they have agreed to take this on in support. They have suggested we use the fundraising to develop the two old bowling greens into football pitches for our younger generation of players, the soccer tots through to possibly our U10’s. The pitches will be developed into 5 v 5 and 7 v 7 pitches. This will provide a much safer environment as both will be part of the club house and all securely surrounded by fencing. The parents will be able to use the club house whilst the players train with refreshments and toilet facilities available.

The main reason for this statement and full explanation is simply to be transparent and clear as these changes may affect your decision as a generous supporter when donating to the just giving page. We want to give all of you the chance to continue to support the amended proposals or if you believe this is not the right thing to do and you would not like to support it, we will without question offer you a full refund of the donations already pledged. If you opt to be refunded, please contact the club by email at contact@parkwyddnjfc.uk and this will be arranged. We (Parkwyddn JFC) believe this is by far the best thing to do and now believe we can take a positive from the mess we were in only a few days ago.

Without the councils offer to support us with this, we would not have the option. Without each and everyone one of you who have not only very kindly donated so far, but also those who have spoken of your support through social media platforms including other local football clubs, it has by far exceeded our expectations, we are extremely humbled. It makes everything worthwhile, the time and effort dedicated by everyone at the club, including its volunteers, members and supporters. We have grown in many ways over the last few years and can only see things getting better here on in.

If you have any questions in relation to this club statement, please contact us here: contact@parkwyddnjfc.uk

May we take this opportunity to thank everyone for your support.

Best Regards,

Parkwyddn JFC