Floodlight Upgrade to Amateur Rugby League Pitch

Leigh Miners Rangers RL Academy LED Floodlight Upgrade

A Brief History of LMR

Leigh Miners Rangers RL Academy (LMR) was originally formed in 1978, when a successful application was made to the old 'Widnes & District Junior Rugby League' (which later became North West Counties) for an under 12's team to join the league. Fast forward the clock 40+ years, and thanks to growth and development of the Club, nurtured by the truly phenomenal dedication of its coaches and all-round volunteers, we now run boys and girls teams from u7's to u16's, with some age groups running double teams.

• 350-400 young playing members in total! 
• Each team is coached by UKCC qualified and DBS certified coaches
• LMR is a Clubmark Gold accredited Club. 
• 80+ coaches, first aiders, touchline managers etc with many, many more volunteers always willing to muck in and lend a hand when needed

We are extremely proud of our Club and what has been achieved over the last 40+ years. We are a very inclusive organisation with a strong reputation as a family friendly club.

LMR Clubhouse

LMR is always striving to improve and better its facilities for the community in which it serves. In the early days, the teams would use Higher Folds Community Centre to change for games, and then over the Christmas of 1995, following many years of fundraising and considerable hard work and determination, the Clubhouse was officially opened! As the Club continued to grow as more and more youngsters became involved, expansion plans were progressed with the eventual opening of the Club extension in 2013. The Clubhouse, car park and playing fields, known as 'Sutton Park' in recognition of one of the late stalwarts of the Club, Terry Sutton, is situated in the WN7 2LX postcode of Leigh.

The Future - "If you build it, they will come!"

We have recently been successful in achieving significant Rugby League World Cup legacy funding, and together with contribution from the Council and the Clubs own reserves, we have recently started work on the installation of a new 3G synthetic pitch at Sutton Park. We hope to be complete by mid September which is perfect timing for use over the winter months. 

Why are we crowdfunding? How will we spend funds raised?

It goes without saying that everybody has found things challenging through the pandemic and with people from all walks have life, having to pull together to support each other. Without the support of our own community and volunteers we would likely not be operating at the same capacity we have described above or have the aspiration to develop further. That is why, we are reaching out to our community to support us in our vision to improve the impact that Leigh Miners Rangers can have in our community and on the rugby field.

We currently have a key project that is underway to develop our main playing surface into a 3G synthetic pitch, to facilitate rugby to be played 365 days a year for our young members.  This will remove our reliance on external providers to cater for our growing numbers, and be a major development in the Club's history. 

This is where the Crowdfunding comes in...........as part of our dream 3G pitch project, we had originally budgeted for the upgrade of the floodlights to a newer, more efficient and environmentally green LED system, but unfortunately the cost of this huge project increased considerably in the Spring of this year which meant we would have to save where we could, and so don't have the funds available at present to provide the standard of lighting that a new pitch of this quality so richly deserves! 

We have traditionally struggled to find winter training venues across the town for the numbers of teams & players, and we believe that the creation of a newly floodlit, artificial surface at the club’s Manchester Road site can provide a hub for the Club to have training facilities all year round, and further increase the participation and enjoyment of other youngsters. 

How our project will be United by Birmingham 2022

The above impact of our crowdfunding campaign would not be possible without one key motivating factor. That is the fantastic guidance and support that Sport England have provided in promoting their 'Places + Spaces' fund. This fund makes awards of up to £10,000 using National Lottery funding, from a pot of £7 million, to help community sport and physical activity groups create or improve facilities in their local area. This fund is something we are looking to utilise in supporting our vision and in the legacy of the commonwealth games, something we are exploring our own opportunities to become involved in. As a club at the heart of our community, we believe in providing high quality opportunities for people from all walks of life to engage in sports and physical activity. 

How you can help and play your part

Thank you for reading our story, and we are now hoping for your financial support to allow us to progress and 'light up' our dream project! Please also take a look at the varying REWARDS already available, which have been kindly donated by local companies, for differing levels of donations you can pledge. Please help wherever you can, and hopefully with the support of both you our community, and that of Sport England, we can create a truly amazing facility!

So.........

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!