A rugby club in Bolton which is a pillar of its community has had new floodlights installed.
Upgrades have been made to Bolton Rugby Club’s training pitch, the first time new floodlights have been installed there in more than 25 years.
The training pitch is used by the men’s, women’s and children’s teams at the club, as well as by schools.
Last year, the club welcomed rugby players from Sicily who had been targeted by the mafia, playing a match against them.
Speaking on behalf of Bolton RUFC, treasurer Duncan Trench said: “We applied for the funding and got it based on the fact that we’re a community club.
“There’s lots of people using it, it’s all about extending the cause for the community, schoolchildren and the rugby teams.
“We did have floodlights, but these are replacements. The old ones were 25-30 years old and they were out of specification for certain requirements.
“We will now have sufficient light and angle on the bulbs.
“They are much more powerful floodlights giving much more coverage, and they are much more energy efficient because they are more modern.
“The floodlights cost £20,000, most of which was provided by the Valencia Communities Fund and a small contribution by a company called Clearview Corporate, who are one of our sponsors and made the contribution to help secure the funding.
“Without these community funds like Valencia, £20k would have meant a massive amount of fundraising for us. It’s great to get it done in one hit.
“They were installed in a week.”
The floodlights will be welcomed by the club's teams.
Duncan added: “Now we can get more coverage and have two training sessions at the same time.
"It will allow our newly formed women’s rugby team to train, in addition to our men’s and children’s teams.”
If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at zach.harrison@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @zachhjourno
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here