Gareth Davies, MS for the Vale of Clwyd, was thrilled to catch up with local volunteers in Rhyl to discuss the upkeep of their operation and how to access higher tier funding.
During the meeting, Gareth was informed that the goal of CPD Y Rhyl is to make their organisation free-holded to access higher tier grant funding. However, filling out forms for funding can be difficult and is made even more challenging when the volunteers have busy lives with full-time careers and family commitments. Gareth was glad to hear that the club is financially capable of getting the freehold and is confident that this would allow it to go from strength to strength, which has happened to other volunteer based organisations in the Vale of Clwyd.
Commenting on this, Gareth said:
''We all know how important grassroots sports are to young people and fans throughout Rhyl. The Lilywhites are a fantastic example of trying to make football what it should be and prioritise the fans and spectators. I am fully onboard with the efforts of the club to gain freehold so they can access higher amounts of funding as this will allow improvements in their facilities and make the club more attractive''.
The club has the potential to be a full-time operation if they had access to a commercially sustainable fund and were able to improve the pitch. If the pitch could be converted into a 3/4G astroturf in future, then Gareth is confident that it would vastly increase the viable play time at the ground and enable the pitch to be hired out/used for community. Equally, a pitch of this quality would allow greater access to the sport allowing future players an opportunity to play outside of school grounds. Speaking on this, Gareth said:
''CPD Y Rhyl started from scratch at a time when the world shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its founders have clearly shown how to fight for better funding and how to grow a team. However, it is clear that to grow further, the team need a better-quality pitch. This would allow the club's players to train in better conditions and allow the community turf that is high quality rather than relying on school pitches''.
''This would ensure that players are better trained to take on their opposition and our young people have an opportunity to improve skills and become part of the next generation of footballers''.
Gareth would like to thank the team at CPD Y Rhyl for their commitment to grassroots football and wishes the team all the best in their matches.
