Rugby Club’s Half-A-Million Pounds To Help Make Merthyr Tydfil Fitter, Healthier And Happier
Merthyr Rugby Club has been awarded half-a-million pounds to help it achieve plans to improve the health of local residents by opening up its facilities to the whole community.
A £500,000 grant from the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council-managed Ffos-y-fran Community Fund towards a major redevelopment programme will support the club’s New Shoots: Grassrootsproject.
The aim of the scheme is to encourage children and young and disabled people to take part in sport, as well as introducing ladies’ rugby to the town – providing a local alternative for women currently having to travel to Cardiff to access the sport.
The £1.13m expansion will see the club get a new 700–seater stand, all-weather pitch, floodlights, male and female changing rooms, weight training facilities and a dedicated youth centre.
The three-year project is aiming to attract several hundred regular participants from target groups of girls/young women, children and young people living in poverty and disabled children and young people, as well as up to 100 families taking part in community events, sporting activities and signposting services.
It is also planned to recruit and train up to 100 volunteer peer mentors, female coaches, and Youth Board members. Construction work began in early May and is scheduled for completion by September.
“We’re going to improve participation opportunities and community facilities in a socio-economically deprived area,” said Vice-Chair John Price. “The club will offer local children and young people an environment in which to learn new skills and play without concerns about cost, peer pressure or exclusion.”
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Leader Cllr Brendan Toomey said: “The aim of the redevelopment is to provide facilities that the whole of the community can use, and to make them active, healthy and happy and we are very pleased to be able to support the Club’s application because of its ambition and plans to integrate their facilities throughout the community.
“The Council continues to provide support in the community and this is another example of where the Ffos y Fran Community Fund is able to make a big difference for community and sporting groups throughout the County Borough.”
Merthyr RFC is one of Merthyr Tydfil’s oldest sports clubs, its first recorded game having been in 1876 at its original Plymouth Ground in Pentrebach. Its current home is at The Wern in Ynysfach, the redevelopment of which includes:
- installation of an all-weather artificial (4G) principal playing field to combat the problems of wet weather and access for disabled members
- development of a dedicated youth centre with accessible washroom facilities for disabled players and the club’s first female changing facilities, with the aim of establishing female teams at under 15, u18 and u13
- extension of a seated, covered spectator stand including spaces for wheelchair users and their carers and providing facilities for community activities
- creation of an off-road car park including priority spaces for disabled badge holders and parents/carers with children
The Youth Board will comprise a democratically elected panel of young people responsible for decision-making and affiliated to the Senior Board.
The club also plans to recruit family members as volunteers, for example training females as accredited coaches; to host job clubs and learning programmes addressing essential skills and employability needs; and to broker links with welfare, employability and health services, offering the clubhouse to service/training providers as a venue for outreach work.
Children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will be targeted through a schools recruitment programme of rugby taster sessions, mini-competitions and after-school and vacation activities promoted in primary and secondary schools in Merthyr Tydfil’s three Communities First clusters: North (Gurnos), Mid (Trefechan and Gellideg) and South (Merthyr Vale and Treharris).
“Merthyr RFC strongly believes we have a responsibility to help prevent anti-social behaviour by engaging local children and young people in a structured and challenging sports programme,” John Price added. “It will be delivered predominantly during evenings and weekends through the existing mini/youth team structure and proposed new teams.”
Mr Price said the most pressing demand received from the community was for the establishment of girls’ sports teams. “The club holds an expression of interest register of over 20 local families wishing to participate,” he added. “This includes those currently travelling more than 40 miles to access young women’s rugby in Cardiff.”
Along with the £500,000 from the Ffos-y-fran Fund, the club has received£50,000 from the Welsh Rugby Union.
The Ffos-y-fran Community Fund was established by local mining company Miller Argent, which donates £1 for every ton of coal sold from the Ffos-y-fran land reclamation scheme. More than £5m has been awarded to a wide range of groups and causes since the site opened in 2007.
Miller Argent Managing Director Neil Brown said: “Taking part in sport helps children and young people improve their confidence, self-esteem, motivation and aspirations. It encourages new friendships, better social skills.
“We are delighted that the Ffos-y-fran Community Fund is able to support a project that will create a future generation of active and engaged Merthyr Tydfil citizens.”
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