Bury Town are getting ready to upgrade Ram Meadow despite the onset of the coronavirus crisis after banking a five figure grant from the Football Foundation.
Officials at the Isthmian League's Blues have been handed £56,386 towards the £80,551 cost of replacing ancient 50-year-old floodlights and a dilapidated wooden stand opposite their clubhouse and changing rooms, pictured.
Bury Town board member Chris Ward made the application to fund the renovation work with the shortfall being made up from a mixture of club funds and donations.
The Isthmian League North Division club's application was supported by West Suffolk Council and the Suffolk FA and some of cash has already been spent on architect and planning application fees.
Grant of more than £56,000 awarded by @FootballFoundtn to @BuryTown for ground renovations…https://t.co/wkDhA8cW4e pic.twitter.com/HFVstzaBiR
— @suffolkfa (@SuffolkFA) April 16, 2020
Ward told the club's website on Thursday: “We are delighted that the club has been awarded this grant from the Football Foundation. In recent years we have improved our facilities greatly with a new clubhouse in 2017 and new changing rooms completed last summer but we felt that we needed to address some outside areas.
“The current floodlights at Ram Meadow were moved from the club's former Kings Road ground in 1978, so while the club have made good use of them, they are now over 50 years old and in need of replacing.
“The new stand will offer much more comfort to our supporters, and also offer a covered accessible area for wheelchair users and seating for careers which is something we lack at the moment.
“On behalf of the club, we would like to thank Jill Korwin and the team at West Suffolk Council for supporting the application, Jodie Allard and the Suffolk FA for supporting the bid and also Billy Fox at the Football Foundation who helped us process the successful bid.
“The club have already contacted the company building the stand and also the floodlight installers, but both companies are currently closed with their workers furloughed so we are waiting until the current restrictions are lifted but hope to start work as soon they return.”
Suffolk FA Football development manager Jodie Allard said: “Bury Town's successful application to the FSIF funding scheme to support their floodlight and stand improvements is a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work of their members to bring much-needed investment into the club.”
She added: “We look forward to seeing the impact that this financial aid has towards supporting the facilities at Ram Meadow, a well-respected and valued venue within the Suffolk football scene.”
Make sure you get your copy of The Non-League Paper from this weekend for the latest news on the impact of the coronavirus crisis on football after Step 3 & 4 sponsors BetVictor announced they were terminating their title sponsorship and the National League told clubs they could vote on how to conclude their campaigns.
In shops on Sundays and Mondays, The NLP is always available as a pound-busting digital edition and full replica of the printed paper from midnight on Saturdays. Save cash on single issues, even more on longer deals and the pages still rustle too!
Images courtesy of burytownfc.co.uk
