Save Our Grassroots Match-Saving Match Fund has provided £10,000 of match funding
Save Our Grassroots: Old Northamptonians
Northampton, West Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Aim
The aim of the project is to repair and improve the resilience of our sports pitches to reduce weather disruption and improve facilities.
Founded in 1919 by Edward Reynolds to honor WWI fallen staff and students of Northampton Grammar School, the Old Northamptonians Association promotes sport and friendship. Based at Billing Road, Northampton, since 1936, the association hosts thriving amateur rugby, football, and cricket sections, celebrating over 100 years of community sports history.
Today the association enables over 1,000 adults, young people and juniors to enjoy the social, health and wellbeing opportunities that sport offers, and supports countless other community activities.
Following significant increase in junior, girls and community sport in recent years and all year round continuous usage, combined with increased weather disruption, our pitches and training facilities have deteriorated, resulting in significant cancellation of training activities and matches.
The 'Save Our Grassroots' campaign is essential in funding critical improvements to pitch quality and resilience. This includes high density seeding to promote new grass growth, increased aeration to address significant compaction, additional fertilisation to strengthen growth and root depth and vital improvements to drainage to reduce flooding.
By supporting this campaign, it will allow the ON's to support the growth of key sections, in particular growing girls rugby and cricket, and establishing support for a new girls football section.
In addition the project will support the establishment of a sensory memorial garden at the club, to help those with neurodiversity feel safe and included within sport, whilst also promoting nature and enabling club members and the wider community to remember the 94 fallen staff and sixthform students who gave their lives in World War 1, to support the freedoms and opportunity we all enjoy today.
This project successfully funded on 5th June 2026