Tavistock Rugby Club awarded £2,500 from Calor to fund private referee showers

Tavistock Rugby Club in Devon is celebrating after being awarded a grant of £2,500 to fund private showers for referees at their Sandy Park ground, as part of rural energy provider Calor’s annual funding scheme

The aim of the Calor Rural Community Fund is to give off-grid communities the chance to gain grants for projects that will improve local life. With a total fund of £50,000, this year the scheme offered funding for 21 different projects, with prize pots ranging from £1,000 up to £5,000.

Tavistock Rugby Club originally only had two senior male teams and just one set of communal showers. As the club grew, with the addition of female teams and junior teams, there became a need to build a second set of communal showers.

The Calor grant will be used to install private showering facilities to ensure both male and female referees can shower separately from junior or opposite sex players.

Alan Rice, Volunteer, Fundraising & Match Secretary from Tavistock Rugby Club said: “The showers desperately need updating to reflect our club’s evolving needs and to offer our referees the privacy they need and deserve.”

“Calor’s generosity means that a large number of referees, team members, school children and RFU visitors will benefit from new private showering facilities.”

Paul Blacklock, Calor’s Corporate Affairs Manager added: “As a rural energy provider, we understand that country living can be challenging and access to community facilities can be especially difficult.

“We set up the Calor Rural Community Fund to be able to give something back to these rural communities, and this year we were inundated by a number of deserving projects. We’re delighted to award Tavistock Rugby Club with £2,500 and we look forward to seeing the transformation of the shower block.

“This year’s scheme was so successful we plan to relaunch it again in 2019, so keep an eye out on our website and social media channels for updates as we hope to be funding more fantastic projects near you!”

For further information, please visit www.calor.co.uk/communityfund.