Bilsdon Park clubhouse: June 2025 update
Where the clubhouse build is up to. The costs, the grants, the private donation, and when we hope to start building.
We get asked nearly every day how the clubhouse project is going. So here is an update everyone can read and share with their teams and players, past and present.
We have planning permission in place for a new pavilion next to the existing sports hall at Bilsdon Park, Beverley Road, Hessle. The pavilion will have changing rooms for players and officials, showers, toilets, a multi-function club room, a working kitchen and an office.
Fundraising has been going on in the background for six years. It really stepped up in 2022 when the lease on the site and the planning permission for the pavilion were granted. It will carry on through the 2025/26 season, as some future income is built into the project's feasibility.
Where the money stands
The estimated project cost currently sits at around £620,000. The project went out to tender and we collected six bids, which we reduced to three for the funding applications.
We have applied to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for commuted sums of £170,000. That application is public record and was published on the Hessle Matters Facebook page. A large private donation that we have worked on for several years has been agreed. That donation has been a huge help in getting us close to the line.
All the fundraising done as a club and by individual teams, plus donations from people and businesses, has been building in a separate account for the last six years. This will be the club's own contribution to the project, and it currently stands at £97,000.
An application to the Football Foundation for around 40% of the cost is almost ready to go in. That has been another big job for our volunteers and it is a vital part of the overall funding. We have also secured several smaller grants, including from the East Riding of Yorkshire Charitable Trust and the Co-op community fund.
We have applied for dozens and dozens of grants, with a very low success rate, for all sorts of reasons. Some funders do not fund sport, some do not fund CICs, some do not fund capital projects, and some simply have other priorities.
When will it start?
Pending the Football Foundation application going in, and both that and the commuted sums applications being successful, we are just about there. We are still trying to raise another £20,000 so that no concessions need to be made and the finished result is as good as it can be.
We currently hope to start building in September and to finish during the 2025/26 season, hopefully around the club's 50th birthday in late February.
How you can help
Personal donations, big or small, help us enormously. Every penny matters and is very much appreciated. You can donate through our Just Giving page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hessle-rangers.
Sharing the crowdfunder with friends, family and any businesses who might be able to help is a huge help too. You can also support the events we run to raise funds for the facility. To sponsor or talk about funding and fundraising, use our contact form.
Our Game. Our Pride. Our Future.