Following on from the update about the Bude Park Development Project on Tuesday, Club Chairman Paul Richardson has provided his thoughts on its progression:

“Great news this week that development has now started on Bude Park Playing Fields. Bude Park was chosen as the original home for our club because of its location being in the heart of the community we serve.

Due to the rapid growth of our club and the need for welfare facilities, it became quickly apparent that considerable investment would be needed. The support from the local councillors and Football Foundation has been immense and the five years of talk has now seen work start.

A lot has also changed within the club in those five years and we’ve exceeded expectations which of cause is great but also brings challenges. As a football club which is volunteer based with over 500 members, we have a turnover greater then most small businesses and as you can well imagine its a logistical and administrative nightmare ensuring all of our 47 teams can fulfil their fixtures and training requirements!!!

Thankfully, we’ve built a group of highly committed volunteers who share the same passion and have the experience and knowledge to keep pushing the club and ensure we can meet the future demands of our members. Coupled with our committee, we’ve now gained support and mentoring from the FA Club Programme Team. They’re a national team of experts who are able to guide us and open pathways to funding and improvement schemes. The purpose of this is to ensure our vision becomes an achievable goal and we remain a sustainable club for the future.

We have our AGM on Monday evening at the Grandale where we’ll reflect on the past year and share the vision for the future. I look forward to welcoming you all and answering all questions.”