Weʼre raising £9,500 to help Douglas Rugby Club maintain playable Port-e-Chee pitches.

During the 2017/18 season 3 matches were played at Ballafletcher and 1 in Ramsey, not to mention the many Celts & junior fixtures cancelled.

So where are we up to?

Well, post TT June 2018, we sat down with UK pitch professional´s (TGMS) and prepared a cost effective plan to prepare the pitches for the 2018/19 season, ready for playing rugby September 2018. Douglas Rugby Club had initial plans to construct a state-of-the-art pitch (£150,000+), but a heavy price mark and lease agreement issues put a big holt on that. The below price list excludes vat and weekly cutting, but gives an overview of this summers plans.

180 tonnes of sand (100 first pitch, 80 second pitch) £4,860 Verti drain £ 400

Brush pitch £75

Harrow pitches £100

Fertiliser (spread) £210

Grass seed for both pitches £1,120

Sow grass seeds £400

REPAIR 2ND PITCH

30m tonnes soil (JCK) £450

Estimate for work £300

Total price incl vat £9,498

The key to all of this is the fact that we need to follow a procedure for the next 5 years to have a sustainable outcome. So it is imperative that the club raises enough funds (£9500) in order to meet the cost of this year’s maintenance.

The funding towards pitch maintenance comes from the TT Campsite & Bar Revenue. With Off-Shore travel costing the club over £42,000 including RFU contribution of £20,000, the pitch maintenance takes a back step. After conversations with our Grounds man Jasper Kirkpatrick, we´ve been warned that not fulfilling this year maintenance will cause 2 giant steps backwards.

How do we do this? Apart from the strategy meetings; fundraising meetings, RFU funding applications, IOM Government communications, looking at how we promote and sell ourselves?

All done by our fantastic Committee who give their time and experience to the project.

Over recent years our TT campsite & Bar revenue have financed pitch maintenance, but unfortunately this year we will be running at a Big lose. This is a situation brought on by the Coronavirus Pandemic, but with club support we can come out of this stronger.

We need your help, its necessary in order to ensure regular fixtures at Port-e-Chee in 2020/21 and the future.

Together we can achieve and ensure a playable pitch for 2020 and beyond.