WORK is soon to get underway at St Breward Football Club, after a working party secured thousands of pounds of funding from the Big Lottery Fund.

The St Breward AFC Refurbishment Committee secured a grant of £8,650 from ‘Awards for All’ last October, and is now awaiting work to start at the football club to improve the kitchen and convert the former snug/storeroom into a toilet facility suitable for all users, which will also be equipped with a baby changing unit.

The group first met three years ago, on February 24 2015, with the aim of raising £100,000 to refurbish the football club.

They have worked towards three projects — as well as the two above, the committee would like also like to refurbish the changing rooms, but ran into some difficulties as the committee wasn’t able to secure grant funding under one umbrella for all of the work members wanted to see.

The funding from Awards for All will enable works to take place soon to provide the disabled toilet and baby changing room, while around £13,000 fundraised by the committee will refurbish the kitchen.

They hope to look at what grant funding opportunities may be available for the changing rooms project later down the line.

Kerry Dingle, secretary of the refurbishment working party, explained: “We are a working party for the AFC and social club. We decided this place needs doing up. The community can’t do without it, it’s such a mainstay of the village. It hosts so much, we need to upgrade it.

“It oversees everything — funerals, wakes, Ten Tors, luncheon club — we cater for all. It’s so well used.

“We thought it was about time we showed the community what we have actually been striving for. There has been an awful lot of fundraising and people need to see the outcome — although an awful lot goes on behind the scenes, like chasing grants.”

One of the members who works hard to source grant funding is Nicola Morris, supported by other committee members — Francis Thomas, president; Anita Cornelius, chairperson; Tina Walsh, vice chair; Debbie Cornelius, treasurer; Veronica Stansfield, publicity officer; and secretary Kerry.

When the kitchen refurbishment works take place, the food side will be temporarily closed, but there is no date for this work to start yet. It will be ‘business as usual’, with the social club open to the public as normal, while works for the toilet facility and baby changing unit are carried out.