Beating the whistle Mums team up to save club’s home before deadline
AGROUP of four mums are in a race against time to save their sons’ fire-damaged football club house.
Rowanfield Rovers have been using the grounds of the King George V Playing Field, Cheltenham since 2015.
But the club has been told that if damage suffered in a fire at their clubhouse in 2014 is not repaired, they will not be allowed to use the facilities.
Leaseholder Ian Webster said: “In 2014 the pavilion was burned down and I decided to take the lease over to give kids an opportunity in the area to play football and different sports.
“The council have given a deadline of May 31 to get the building finished.”
Since the decision was made, mums Beata Migowska, Tina Gardner, Sara Jane Willett and Danielle Wood have come together to make the necessary improvements.
With no funding, the mums have been rolling up their sleeves and have been doing all the repair work themselves.
They have painted the changing rooms and the benches and are appealing to the community for donations.
Beata, 35, said it would be devastating if the boys had the grounds taken off them.
She said: “We are very sad. If we knew they were going to take the football ground away earlier then we would have done something quicker and now we have such little time.
“We have more than 15 players that love to play football, it will be devastating to have the grounds taken off the boys.
“These boys play every Wednesday and Saturday all year round.”
She continued: “It gets the children out of the house for fresh air and exercise, rather than being stuck in on a console.
“If anyone can help it would be amazing and very much appreciated.”
Among the items needed are internal doors, roof insulation, strip lights and panelling for the walls of the shower room.
Sara’s concerns are mostly over the cost of the boiler because showers have to be installed.
She said: “My little boy loves it there. We just really don’t want it to close down.
“To be honest, we don’t really need the clubhouse but if we don’t fix that then we lose the grounds as well.”
Cheltenham Borough Council is unable to comment as there are ongoing legal proceedings.