Refurbished Holme on Spalding Moor pavilion is opened

It was a pleasure yesterday to attend the official opening of Holme Village Hall/Holme Rovers Football club refurbished pavilion.

The project has been planned and executed over the last two years and with the backing of the Football Foundation who provided 55% of the over £31000 total cost, and additional funding from Awards for All, Commuted sums, the Joseph and Annie Cattle trust, and local fundraising efforts by the Hall and Football club, work finally began in December 2011.

Many thanks, and a great deal of credit must go to my fellow Howdenshire ERYC Councillor Nick Evans who organised the event, and welcomed the guests of honour Howdenshire and Haltemprice MP David Davis, John Hawley (former Arsenal, Hull City, Scunthorpe, and Leeds player.

My involvement had been to act as a referee for many of the funding applications - which was an honour to be able to do.

In addition Adrian Morris from the Football Foundation, and Graham Turner from the East Riding FA attended and without their help and advice, and that of Peter Latham Warde of the Humber Playing Fields Association, the project would just not have happened. Members of the Holme Rovers management and coaching staff and members of the Village Hall committee also attended.

On a bright but breezy day Nick welcomed everyone, including first team players and supporters and explained how the project has inspired the 100% local Holme team who were nearly relegated last year but who are now giving a good account of themselves. They are now halfway up the league table, playing against teams from Hull, Goole and Beverley who have a much larger catchment area to draw from. In fact after the opening ceremony they went on to beat Eastrington 4-2 in their first home win of the season!

John Hawley complimented everyone involved with the project, and said how pleased he was to see that under 8 and 9 teams were planned for next year and also that the possibility of a women’s team was a great achievement for the football club. “The importance and success of grass roots sport cannot be emphasised enough” John said. For his comedy slot he pointed out that our MP, David Davis had “ always played on the right wing, almost made the premiership a couple of times, and when he did come off the bench onto the field always gave a good account of himself” .

David Davis then spoke and also praised the efforts of the organisations for their fund raising capability, and the fantastic facility that we now had on offer, thanking the Football Foundation for supporting the project. He commented on how this has raised the morale of the team. and wished everyone success for the future. David with John Hawley’s assistance cut the ribbon to officially open the Pavilion.

We were given an impressive tour of the building that sports Solar Powered Hot water, double glazing throughout, cavity wall insulation and low energy lighting.

Other donors included Rowlawn who had generously supplied turf for the front of the building, and Dulux supplied numerous tins of quality paint for the interior. Volunteers had even worked during the Christmas break to move the project to its completion.

A real “Team Effort” - well done to Nick and all those involved.