Lydney up for the challenge
Report and pictures by Roger Pike
With just six days gone since Storm Dennis and the flooding of Lydney RFC, there has been much activity at the rugby club. Whilst the pitch was clear by Monday and will soon be playable the Clubhouse, changing rooms and out buildings suffered major damage. The Clubhouse in particular was hit hard, most of the flooring has been destroyed, the flooring, skirting boards and wall plaster are all impossible to recover. The kitchen was completely engulfed in water rendering all the equipment of freezers, fridges, cookers as scrap and the flooring again ruined. All the toilet areas will need complete refurbishment before use will be possible. Being on the lower ground the outbuildings were badly swamped which has resulted in all the equipment such as tackle bags being destined only for the skip. Being on a flood plain the Rugby Club, Cricket Club etc, are unable to get insurance so events like this are a total disaster.
Chairman Duncan Sleeman commented, ‘I have been overwhelmed by the support and generosity we have received, firstly I have to say a huge thank you to the volunteers who have worked long hours every day to get the recovery underway. Local tradesman, businesses and the public have been superb with not only monetary donations but loaning or giving us equipment to help with the clean-up. We are making incredible progress; basically the first few days were about filling skips to clear all the flood damage items, clean out all the mud and debris left from the water. Having then been able to access the damage it was clear most of the flooring was gone, all the skirting boards needed to be ripped out and about a meter of plaster would require removing from the walls due to water creep. The team working at the Club have really got stuck in and we are now filing skips with plaster and skirting boards as we try to prepare for refurbishment. Next week we hope to start plastering and some decorating where possible but it’s going to take many months to finish everything. I cannot thank everyone enough; I am confident we will get through this and become a stronger Club for the experience’
Nick Nelmes the Club secretary has written to the Council to ask for explanation as to why the flood occurred and what action plans will be put in place to stop any reoccurrence. Nick advised ‘we are really hopeful we can honour our next home game on 07th March against Cleeve, for sure we will not be able to offer business as usual but we are trying to get the main bar area open and in operation’
The Club had only just completed a major refurbishment of the Clubhouse so to have this flood has been really devastating. Roger Pike added ‘we have recently been working hard for a new grant with Sport England to refurbish and extend our Changing rooms. In summary it’s been great news for the Club this season , our playing numbers are increasing, we now have a large amount of Juniors, three Senior teams and also a new Ladies side, however we simply do not have enough changing facilities to operate numerous games on the same day. We as a Club have a duty of care to provide secure and separate areas for both juniors and the ladies to change and shower. The Flood is a major setback but we will be back in contact with Sport England to see if we can revise our grant for funds not just to repair the changing areas from the flood but do the building extension as part of the same project. Whilst all our efforts are in the Clubhouse, our changing rooms should be functional very soon thus enable our juniors and seniors to at least be back training even if we cannot offer any food or refreshments. I would also like to add my thanks to the media, both BBC and ITV plus the Press who have highlighted our plight and thus been invaluable in helping the fund raising activities’
