Shoreham and Basford United are the next two non-League clubs to land a £25,000 prize as part of the Buildbase £100k Transfer Deal 2020 programme.
Following on from Stowmarket and Barton Rovers, who each won a £25,000 product bursary from the first half of this season’s pot earlier this year, our lead sponsors of both the FA Trophy and FA Vase have selected their next recipients.
The prize, which includes building, electrical and hire products, was available to any club who entered the Buildbase FA Trophy or Vase in the 2019-20 season.
And after a pitching process in May which saw four other clubs present their cases, it was Southern Combination side Shoreham and Northern Premier League outfit Basford who impressed our specialist panel of Buildbase and FA judges the most with their plans.
Sussex-based Shoreham revealed their plans to renovate their main changing room roof and develop a second changing room to cater for their emerging girls and youth teams.
They also plan to renovate their west stand to replace corroded seats with a new bench platform seating system to enable family and friends to watch their games more comfortably.
“Schemes like the Buildbase programme are vital for grassroots football as they offer the opportunity to improve facilities and upkeep that is usually done by donations,” explained co-chairman Stuart Slaney.
“We’ll repair our main changing rooms and those used by our girls’ teams to give them a dedicated area as well as renovate our west stand.
“It means so much to win, we can bring more girls into the club and increase activities for youngsters around the area and parents will be able to sit behind the goal and watch their kids play again, no matter what the weather.”
For Basford United, who are based just outside Nottingham, they will use the prize money to extend their current club house into a car park, which will offer more to both supporters on a matchday and their local community.
With the work providing room for an additional 120 people, triple their current capacity, it will help raise more funds on a matchday as well as host events throughout the week for different groups in their local community, a game changer as the club and society come out of lockdown.
“Our project is simple yet game changing and winning has made a lot of people happy. We will extend our clubhouse to make a much bigger space that everyone can use. We’ll open up during the day and early evenings for parties, corporate events and coffee mornings,” said chairman Chris Monroe.
“Most non-League clubs live hand to mouth and make do with what they’ve got. The Buildbase scheme gives us an opportunity to pitch our dreams and secure crucial materials to meet our club and social objectives.
“We’re in quite a deprived area and the needs for all will be massive as we come out of lockdown.
“Our current size means that we would not be able to operate under social distancing rules. We want to play our part in our community obligations that will be very evident, such as support for the elderly, unemployed and disabled.”
Buildbase has awarded £450,000 worth of building materials to improve non-league football club facilities since it became the title sponsor of the FA Trophy and Vase in 2016.
