Barnstaple Water Sports Centre - Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club

Barnstaple Water Sports Centre

Sport England grant brings Barnstaple Water Sports Centre nearer to realisation

Barnstaple Pilot Gig Club has now been promised a grant of £75,000 from Sport England towards the cost of purchasing a former warehouse on Rolle’s Quay for use as a Water Sports Centre and communal facility for the people of Barnstaple. This follows on from the earlier promise by the Fullabrook Community fund to provide £34,000 as well towards the project. Both promises are conditional on BPGC raising the balance of the £200,000 purchase price for the building, and, in the case of Sport England, for the estimated £50,000 needed to refurbish.

During the last twelve months the club has raised £26,000 through it’s ‘Off the R’owd’ appeal, with fund-raising events at least once every month. In addition the club is very grateful for the grants from NDC Councillors Community fund that allowed professional surveys of the building, so that plans can be made for the necessary remedial works. The Peregrine Mears Architectural practise has kindly prepared design drawings and technical drawings for the building to be used as a boatshed and communal facility, and Clear Asbestos Solutions Ltd, Slee Blackwell solicitors and Underwood Wright Chartered Surveyors have all provided professional services at little or no cost.

There is still a balance of £65,000 needed to achieve the purchase price, and the club is continuing with its fund-raising efforts every month. Also the outcomes of two further grant applications are awaited.

The proposed Water Sports centre has already aroused interest from North Devon Scouts, the WI, the University of the Third Age, PETROC, local Surf Life Saving clubs, Bideford Canoe Club, a Morris Dancing Group in Braunton, and West Buckland school. When complete it will have a secure boatshed and workshop on the ground floor and a substantial secure compound outside for storing trailers, boats and ancillary equipment. The first floor will be principally a large meeting area big enough to seat at least 60 people, a small kitchenette and toilets. Modifications to the building will allow disabled access.

Club chairman Kevin Ward said “We are very grateful for all the support given to this project by local business and the general public in the Barnstaple area that has allowed us to achieve so much in such a short time. We are hoping to achieve the purchase price during early 2019 so that refurbishment works may commence and the Water Sports Centre become fully operational by late summer 2019. It is the club’s aspiration that the facility will welcome other water sports users, and encourage creation and growth of other clubs, and individual users to create a vibrant water sports culture in Barnstaple. To help us turn this dream into reality we have a just giving page (https://www.justgiving.com/barnstaplepilotgigclub), so please dig deep – every donation, large or small will help create a water sports and community facility that can benefit us all. Thank you to all who have already supported our aims. Our fund-raising team continue to organise fund-raising events and I ask for everyone to support those events in order that Barnstaple will benefit from this project.”

6656 Former Warehouse, Rolle Quay A04

6656 Former Warehouse, Rolle Quay A02

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to toolbar