Message from our new club Chairman – Mark Austin

I am proud to say I have the privilege of stepping into Frank’s shoes as the newly elected Club Chairman. Some of you may already know me having been associated with Towcestrians for 12 years as a youth rugby coach, ex Chair of the Mini and Juniors, General Committee member and in recent years occasional third team player.
Together with my new General Committee of volunteers made up of all the sections we want to continue to develop the club for the benefit of all sports sections. The primary role of the General Committee is to maintain and run efficient club finances and facilities in order that the sporting sections are able to enjoy playing and developing in their own sports, promoting them within the Towcester and district area.
Due to the dedication of so many around the club we have enabled a tremendous number of young people to play rugby, cricket, hockey and tennis but are simply running out of space to accommodate their playing requirements, let alone the car parking. So, over and above day to day maintenance of facilities, we see a great need to acquire more playing space. We have already a number of projects in place and are developing plans which we will share with you as they come to fruition. Priorities include new training pitches for M&J’s, another full sized rugby pitch, the upgrading of training lights and refurbishment of existing floodlights. When we have been able to secure more grassed playing area we would ultimately like to turn our attention to a multisport 3G playing surface at Towcestrians to further develop all our sports and perhaps introduce others.
All these new major projects of course need time and funding and whilst we have been negotiating with local authorities and sporting bodies to procure support there is still a huge amount of money needed to be raised to realise our goals. To that end we would like to encourage you all to help out in whatever way you can, be it in supporting the fantastic fundraising social events that we have, becoming or finding new sponsors or just by coming along and supporting the teams and having a drink or two at the bar.
If you do have ideas re sponsorship or becoming a benefactor please approach any of the General Committee or Commercial Committee (you will find there contact details soon on the Tows website!).
Finally, in the short term it is hoped you will see some immediate improvements as we are clearing some undergrowth and debris away from our road boundary area that will give us some more car parking and allow more cricket balls to be found easily! We are also pursing the last piece of the clubhouse development to complete the redevelopment and extension of the Members’ Lounge to have a more welcoming friendly place to meet and socialise.
We are looking at ways to bring a multisport membership affordable to all, across all sections as well as family membership, to encourage everyone to benefit from the great sports we offer including our new Softball partners.
It just remains therefore for me to wish you all a great festive season and I look forward to seeing all down at Towcestrians in the ensuing months

Mark Austin
Towcestrians Club Chairman