Felixstowe & Walton United FC

£10,000+ raised towards Facility Development Fund

The Seasiders launched a Development Fund in 2021 as the club strives to continue improving its facilities.

We are pleased to update the totaliser with £10,027!  Latest contributions came from the Christmas Draw, proceeds from the Supporters Club Shop and various other donations.

Joint Chairman and project leader Chris Daynes wished to thank everyone who has helped reach this milestone. "It's a great start in the midst of very challenging times and shows what can be achieved when everyone pulls together towards a goal".

In the Facility Development Plan (see below), a full size 3G pitch and clubhouse extension is earmarked for 3 years time, but fund-raising must start now if we are to make the project a reality.

The site has been earmarked as a priority in the Local Football Facility Plan for a 3G pitch to not only service the many teams at the club, but also extending our reach to areas not yet catered for due to our limited grass pitch provision, and also as a community hub for schools and other community groups. The extension to the clubhouse would also enable the Academy to be based at the ground, provide matchday facilities for the new pitch and also increase the social event opportunities which will, in turn, provide additional income to fund the footballing activities.

The Club must raise a minimum of £200,000 over the next 3 years to unlock large grants from the Football Foundation and other funding bodies. This seems a daunting task, but we have already achieved it once, 5 years ago when developing the new clubhouse. The clubhouse transformed the fortunes of the club and this next project will take us to a whole new level, providing state of the art training and match facilities for everyone, ranging from our youngest Boys & Girls to our Senior sides, and the town as a whole.

A number of fund-raising events are being arranged including a sponsored parachute jump, a community Fun Day and Stuart & Chris will embark on another 92 in 92 tour in April (Covis permitting), following on from the success of their 2016 tour of all 92 ground in the top four divisions, non-stop in 92 hours! 

We'll also have collection buckets around the ground and clubhouse and can accept donations to the club during opening hours, or by bank transfer stating 'Development Fund' as the reference, to: Felixstowe & Walton United Football Club  Sort Code: 60-08-17 Account No: 39609154

You can track the progress of our fund-raising with a thermometer totaliser in the clubhouse. If you have any ideas of ways to raise funds, please do get in touch!

The original Facility Development Plan article is here-

Following several years of ground improvements to transform the Goldstar Ground into one of the best appointed venues in Suffolk, the Club are looking to the future with a plan to further develop the facilities to not only prepare the club for a further promotion and the ground grading requirements that come with it, but to also provide additional facilities for the whole club and community to enjoy.

With the long term plans to take over the lease of the whole Town Ground site in Dellwood Avenue, when and if the Cricket Club move to a new home, it would open the possibility of adding a full size artificial surface to the site, providing much needed additional capacity for our existing teams to play and train, from Juniors to Seniors and allow the club to increase participation in all areas, and in particular, areas such as disability football, recreational football (walking football) and the Women's game, all of which are very difficult to accommodate with only one full size grass pitch currently available. Coupled with an extension to the clubhouse, a 3G surface would compliment the existing main pitch and be transformational for our Juniors, Academy, Seniors and the whole Community who would have access to the facility all year round.

Chris Daynes, Joint Chairman and author of the Facility Development Plan said "When it comes to improving our facilities for all users of the club, first of all you have to work out what the clubs aspirations are. Once you have that wishlist in place of where you want to get to, you need a roadmap to help guide you along the way. This document will do exactly that, helping the cub prioritise future developments, aid funding applications and ensure we are as prepared as we can be, whether that's knowing exactly what additional ground improvements are required to meet ground grading rules for a higher level, or enabling us to hit the ground running if the prospect of taking on the whole site became reality."

Chris was keen to add "I must stress this list of projects does not mean they will all come off and we want our neighbours to be assured that we will consult fully with all aspects of the plan to mitigate any negative impacts where at all possible."

Link to the Facility Development Plan