£5K boost for new pitch

Louth Hockey Club’s battle to get a new artificial pitch for the town has received a massive boost with a fantastic £5,000 donation.

The club, which has been fundraising for over two years to help pay for a replacement pitch at the London Road sports centre, has been given the money by the RW Chapman Charitable Trust.

The money now takes the club’s pitch fund to nearly £15,000.

Chairwoman Lesley Ward said: “Louth Hockey Club has a proud history within the community and this generous donation by a local charitable trust will go a considerable way to ensure this continues.  On behalf of everyone at Louth Hockey Club I would like to extend to the trustees our grateful thanks for this very welcome and generous donation.”

“This will not only benefit Louth Hockey Club by ensuring competitive hockey continues to be played in Louth but will also benefit the wider community.  Our young members are at the very centre of our club and in these unprecedented times it is more vital than ever that facilities such as ours are available to ensure physical and mental wellbeing.”

The club has been working with East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) to replace the aging pitch, which is 22 years old. ELDC has ring-fenced funding for the project, but the club has to make a financial contribution and agree to a £50,000 loan from the council as part of the deal.

The new pitch will cost approximately £200,000 but can be used by the whole community, including football and hockey.

The club has raised money via kind donations and fundraising activities which have included bingo, car washes, car boot sales, crowdfunding and a ceilidh.

It was hoping funding would also come from the National Hockey Federation, which has contributed towards new pitches across the UK. However, an application was rejected.

Mrs Ward added: “We were disappointed that our application to the National Hockey Foundation for funding towards a new AstroTurf was unsuccessful.  As a club we are determined that this setback would not deter us from our ultimate goal and working closely with ELDC we intend to put in an application to the Community Asset Fund, supported by our England Hockey representative, as soon as the fund reopens.”

Louth Hockey Club has just returned to training following the Covid 19 pandemic. Members have worked hard to produce a safe environment for players to return to the London Road pitch. They hope to increase sessions to include all members in time.

The club has been around since 1955 and has a growing membership of players, aged 5 to 70. They regularly have up to 60 juniors training each week and run four senior teams each weekend. Over 80 of their 150 plus membership are under 18 – a section which has grown over the last two years.

For Louth the loss of the pitch would be a disaster. The next nearest facility is 15 miles away and heavily used by another hockey club.

Each week around 150 players, aged 5 to 70, use the pitch two nights a week and on Saturdays. There are monthly-hosted junior tournaments, school hockey days and popular summer camps. The rest of the week the pitch is heavily used for football training and five-a-side leagues.