Hambledon Football Club has received a cheque for £99,999 from the Football Foundation at a presentation attended by officials, villagers and local MP Jeremy Hunt.
The presentation was made to Matt Kiley, club secretary, who also gratefully received another cheque of £1,000 from the Hambledon Community Fund.
The two grants have helped Hambledon FC take a significant step forward in realising its dream of replacing its delapidated “hut” with a modern club house. Both recognise the efforts the club has made in its own fund raising over the last few years. Planning permission has already been granted for the new facilities and it is hoped work can start in the New Year.
The Football Foundation grant was made under its “Grow The Game” scheme. The limited facilities at Hambledon’s Badger Park ground restricted the club’s development, with some younger players prefering to play elsewhere and the club having no prospect of promotion to higher leagues until improvements were made. It is hoped that the new clubhouse will be ready for the 2013-14 season.
Hambledon Community Fund benefits from money donated to it, mainly by generous villagers. The interest on invested money is available as grants to support community projects under the overall administration of the Surrey Community Fund.
The presentations were made at the Merry Harriers. Our photograph below shows, from left to right, Caroline McRoyal, Surrey FA Development Manager, club officials Martyn Grove, Matt Kiley, Mic Coleman, Ginger Blackman, and Carlo Moriano with Jeremy Hunt, third from right.
In our second photograph Mic and Matt are joined by Wendy Varcoe, of the Surrey Community Fund (left) and Julie Llewelyn of the Hambledon Community Fund together with Jeremy Hunt.
