History
Pendle RUFC 2006 –
The proverb: says Great Oaks from little Acorns grow.
&
Sophocles: said “Success is dependent on effort.”
In January 2006 a few people met and had a chat about the state of rugby in the local area, it was agreed that the lack of any true direction for any form of Rugby. Be it, “League or Union.” In the Local area and community was Non Existent.
During this informal chat it was said. “Wouldn’t it be marvellous if we could start our own rugby club from scratch. With our own ideals, and for the local area and community to be proud of.”
With a lot of help from the Children, Parents, Coaches, Friends and Colleagues.
This is how it began.
1.Could we start a rugby club up from scratch?
We had the Positive attitudes of all the people involved right from the start, also this was growing in momentum every day, Parents were asking if they could join us and be of any help, this was gratifying as we needed as much help and support as possible. (This is still and always will be the case.)
2.Looking for somewhere to play.
Areas we looked at ranged from far and wide, we ventured out over such a wide area we thought we should have had Nepalese Sherpa’s to help us out. Looking at pitches and grounds all over the Pendle area was taking up a lot of valuable time and effort.
However time was not on our side. Due to circumstances beyond our control we had to make some big decisions in a relatively short space of time. The first was to get a training area sorted for the following week. (We were in February.) This the local council provided on very, very, short notice and let us use Swindon Playing fields and Changing facilities, However we could not call this ideal or Home.
The Hunt was still on for Utopia.
The next step of the way seemed to take us away from our natural area and talks began with Pendle Forest Sport’s and Social Club at Fence. We were offered a pitch and changing facilities however (The Pitch would have needed creating from scratch this would have taken 2 years plus.) We needed plans to start for the coming season September 2006, 7 Months away.
Back to the drawing board.
A couple of our members took a couple of hours of work and had a look at a little known Community Centre off Regent Street in Nelson. “Hodge House” was its name.
What a revelation this turned out to be. It already had a Rugby pitch on it, Albeit a Rugby league one. “Pendle Panthers Ladies Rugby League team played there.” However the nearest changing facilities were back at Swindon no real problems for now, however with the amount of Children expected, we are going to need changing facilities on site. Talks with the council ensued, Councillor Iqbal. (The Local Councillor for Bradley Ward.) Gave us his full backing and Support, the area we had chosen needed community projects, we as a club wanted to fulfil some of these projects. Could this become Home???
It started to look a reality when we received permission to use the community centre as a clubhouse and we received a set of keys so we could use these facilities as a base, also the pitches to train and play on.
3.Attendance and Support.
Our first Sunday training session saw over 40 children attend. (What a fantastic response from children and parents alike??)
7 Fully Qualified coaches, Graham Ratcliffe, John Wiseman, Michael Speak, Gilly Wainman,
Peter Moore, Paul Clamp and Ben Peverley, took this inaugural session.
Afterwards over Coffee and Sandwiches a question and answer session took place with both Parents and Children in attendance, this Allayed some of the fears the parents seemed to have and took onboard how we were going to progress as a club. (We laid down a set of Ground Rules for what was expected from. Everybody involved!! From the coaches to the Parents and Children alike.)
Hot Food was provided after training sessions out of the Back of the committee members cars and Vans, it was a real old fashioned we will win through type of setting. After permission was granted for us to use the community centre, we had a fully equipped kitchen to make food in.
4.The Committee.
Now we had the club house facilities and playing/training areas, we needed to sort out a committee to run and control the usual day to day, week to week, problems encountered in running a successful Rugby Club.
A meeting was convened and committee posts were put up for tender by majority vote.
Below is outcome of the first meeting and the Positions the Committee actually agreed to take on.
Inaugural Committee Members 2006 / 2007.
President. Michael Speak.
Chairman. James Peverley.
Vice Chairman. Gilbert Wainman.
Secretary. Julie Webber.
Accounting & Finances.
Joanne Moore. & Cath Wiseman.
Fixtures Secretary. John Wiseman.
Trustees.
Louise Ratcliffe. John Webber. Anne Peverley.
Council Liason. David Clamp.
Head Coach. Graham Ratcliffe.
Junior Head Coach. John Wiseman.
Child Welfare.
Janet Kinnane. & Michele Hardy.
Marketing & PR. Louise Ratcliffe.
Coaching Staff.
Paul Clamp, Ben Peverley, Peter Moore, Gilly Wainman,
Michael Speak, Graham Ratcliffe, John Wiseman.
5. Meetings.
Meetings were and still are held on Tuesdays every 2 weeks and the speed these come around is beyond belief, after the committee was formed the real work really started.
The first meetings were held at the Golden Ball Public house, Burnley Road, Colne.
This was changed to Hodge House Community Centre as we wanted to make money not spend it. (The first year we brought our own drinks and sold them back to ourselves. Every couple who attended paid £5.00 per fortnight. All the Committee members paid an extra £50.00 as well as the normal membership fees for the first season to get the club up and running.
6.Sponsorship.
Due to 2 of our Members we managed to get 3 Major sponsorship deals.
Silent Night . Agreed to provide a full kit. (Reversible shirts, embroidered tops and socks.) For all 4 of our Junior Teams.
Centurion Rugby. Provided a Full Kit. (Home and Away Shirts, Shorts and Socks.) For our academy team.
Rhino Rugby. Provided us with a brand new Scrummaging Machine.
Other sponsors donated. From £20.00 to £500.00 pounds it was great to see everybody willing to help and create something to be proud of.
7.Achievments.
It was a main objective of ours to improve the state of the pitches we had inherited, if this was to become a reality and done correctly it was going to cost over £120,000.
With a lot of help from the council and the canal corridor trust the work was finally finished in May of 2007 to give us some of the finest pitches to be seen in the Pendle Area. (We now have 2 Full sized County Pitches, 1 junior sized pitch, and 1 training area.)
In the not too distant future we are hoping to apply for County Matches to be held here,
Part 2 of our plan is to build proper Rugby Changing facilities (6 Changing room with showers and a proper club function room with a bar. This is going to cost in the region of £650,000. A pipe dream you may say?? Just you wait and see.
8.
The proverb: says Great Oaks from little Acorns grow.
&
Sophocles: said “Success is dependent on effort.”
In January 2006 a few people met and had a chat about the state of rugby in the local area, it was agreed that the lack of any true direction for any form of Rugby. Be it, “League or Union.” In the Local area and community was Non Existent.
During this informal chat it was said. “Wouldn’t it be marvellous if we could start our own rugby club from scratch. With our own ideals, and for the local area and community to be proud of.”
With a lot of help from the Children, Parents, Coaches, Friends and Colleagues.
This is how it began.
1.Could we start a rugby club up from scratch?
We had the Positive attitudes of all the people involved right from the start, also this was growing in momentum every day, Parents were asking if they could join us and be of any help, this was gratifying as we needed as much help and support as possible. (This is still and always will be the case.)
2.Looking for somewhere to play.
Areas we looked at ranged from far and wide, we ventured out over such a wide area we thought we should have had Nepalese Sherpa’s to help us out. Looking at pitches and grounds all over the Pendle area was taking up a lot of valuable time and effort.
However time was not on our side. Due to circumstances beyond our control we had to make some big decisions in a relatively short space of time. The first was to get a training area sorted for the following week. (We were in February.) This the local council provided on very, very, short notice and let us use Swindon Playing fields and Changing facilities, However we could not call this ideal or Home.
The Hunt was still on for Utopia.
The next step of the way seemed to take us away from our natural area and talks began with Pendle Forest Sport’s and Social Club at Fence. We were offered a pitch and changing facilities however (The Pitch would have needed creating from scratch this would have taken 2 years plus.) We needed plans to start for the coming season September 2006, 7 Months away.
Back to the drawing board.
A couple of our members took a couple of hours of work and had a look at a little known Community Centre off Regent Street in Nelson. “Hodge House” was its name.
What a revelation this turned out to be. It already had a Rugby pitch on it, Albeit a Rugby league one. “Pendle Panthers Ladies Rugby League team played there.” However the nearest changing facilities were back at Swindon no real problems for now, however with the amount of Children expected, we are going to need changing facilities on site. Talks with the council ensued, Councillor Iqbal. (The Local Councillor for Bradley Ward.) Gave us his full backing and Support, the area we had chosen needed community projects, we as a club wanted to fulfil some of these projects. Could this become Home???
It started to look a reality when we received permission to use the community centre as a clubhouse and we received a set of keys so we could use these facilities as a base, also the pitches to train and play on.
3.Attendance and Support.
Our first Sunday training session saw over 40 children attend. (What a fantastic response from children and parents alike??)
7 Fully Qualified coaches, Graham Ratcliffe, John Wiseman, Michael Speak, Gilly Wainman,
Peter Moore, Paul Clamp and Ben Peverley, took this inaugural session.
Afterwards over Coffee and Sandwiches a question and answer session took place with both Parents and Children in attendance, this Allayed some of the fears the parents seemed to have and took onboard how we were going to progress as a club. (We laid down a set of Ground Rules for what was expected from. Everybody involved!! From the coaches to the Parents and Children alike.)
Hot Food was provided after training sessions out of the Back of the committee members cars and Vans, it was a real old fashioned we will win through type of setting. After permission was granted for us to use the community centre, we had a fully equipped kitchen to make food in.
4.The Committee.
Now we had the club house facilities and playing/training areas, we needed to sort out a committee to run and control the usual day to day, week to week, problems encountered in running a successful Rugby Club.
A meeting was convened and committee posts were put up for tender by majority vote.
Below is outcome of the first meeting and the Positions the Committee actually agreed to take on.
Inaugural Committee Members 2006 / 2007.
President. Michael Speak.
Chairman. James Peverley.
Vice Chairman. Gilbert Wainman.
Secretary. Julie Webber.
Accounting & Finances.
Joanne Moore. & Cath Wiseman.
Fixtures Secretary. John Wiseman.
Trustees.
Louise Ratcliffe. John Webber. Anne Peverley.
Council Liason. David Clamp.
Head Coach. Graham Ratcliffe.
Junior Head Coach. John Wiseman.
Child Welfare.
Janet Kinnane. & Michele Hardy.
Marketing & PR. Louise Ratcliffe.
Coaching Staff.
Paul Clamp, Ben Peverley, Peter Moore, Gilly Wainman,
Michael Speak, Graham Ratcliffe, John Wiseman.
5. Meetings.
Meetings were and still are held on Tuesdays every 2 weeks and the speed these come around is beyond belief, after the committee was formed the real work really started.
The first meetings were held at the Golden Ball Public house, Burnley Road, Colne.
This was changed to Hodge House Community Centre as we wanted to make money not spend it. (The first year we brought our own drinks and sold them back to ourselves. Every couple who attended paid £5.00 per fortnight. All the Committee members paid an extra £50.00 as well as the normal membership fees for the first season to get the club up and running.
6.Sponsorship.
Due to 2 of our Members we managed to get 3 Major sponsorship deals.
Silent Night . Agreed to provide a full kit. (Reversible shirts, embroidered tops and socks.) For all 4 of our Junior Teams.
Centurion Rugby. Provided a Full Kit. (Home and Away Shirts, Shorts and Socks.) For our academy team.
Rhino Rugby. Provided us with a brand new Scrummaging Machine.
Other sponsors donated. From £20.00 to £500.00 pounds it was great to see everybody willing to help and create something to be proud of.
7.Achievments.
It was a main objective of ours to improve the state of the pitches we had inherited, if this was to become a reality and done correctly it was going to cost over £120,000.
With a lot of help from the council and the canal corridor trust the work was finally finished in May of 2007 to give us some of the finest pitches to be seen in the Pendle Area. (We now have 2 Full sized County Pitches, 1 junior sized pitch, and 1 training area.)
In the not too distant future we are hoping to apply for County Matches to be held here,
Part 2 of our plan is to build proper Rugby Changing facilities (6 Changing room with showers and a proper club function room with a bar. This is going to cost in the region of £650,000. A pipe dream you may say?? Just you wait and see.
8.
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