New hope for Hollinwood

Hollinwood officials and volunteers line up in front of the club’s new fence.

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RUGBY: HOLLINWOOD rugby league club are looking to the future with renewed optimism.

In a double boost, the clubhouse — regularly a target for vandals — has been cordoned off with fencing, while the club have also managed to secure an RFL Clubmark award.

The committee, led by stalwart Fred Halliwell, got hold of fencing from the demolished Radclyffe School on Hunt Lane.

A large number of volunteers then set to work over a number of weekends to bed in the posts and attach the fencing to provide a barrier to any possible acts of vandalism.

"About 20 of the club’s players, committee members, parents and even the RFL came along and helped us to erect the fence and provide much needed refreshments along the way," said Halliwell.

"It will stop some of the damage being done to the roof and we can now start the next phase of our development and do some work on the kitchen and changing rooms.”

The Rugby Football League's 'League for all' officer Paul Scanlon-Wells was happy to lend a hand.

“I spoke to Fred on the phone a number of times about the club and was only too happy to help in erecting the fence," he said.

"It was on one visit there that I noticed a number of certificates on the wall for things like first aid, club-for-all and touchline managers.

"I mentioned that these were all necessary for Clubmark and asked if they had they looked into it."

A short time later, the Clubmark file was duly completed and the RFL have now issued Hollinwood with their award.

The RFL in Oldham is now working closely with the club in order to help increase the number of participants through taster sessions in local schools, whose finals will be held on the club's Fields New Road pitch at the end of this year.