Join the celebrations at new Braywick clubhouse

Royal Borough residents are invited to join in the fun and celebrations at the official opening of the Maidenhead Athletic Club (MAC) clubhouse at the new Braywick Park pavilion on Saturday 11 July.

The opening ceremony takes place at 1pm when Cllr Simon Dudley, lead member for adult and community services, says a few words and Christine Benning, England Athletics officer and 1984 Olympics finalist, cuts the ribbon to officially open the MAC clubhouse.

From 11am to 2pm there will be a bouncy castle and other children's amusements, and MAC officers and coaches will be available for membership and other enquiries.

Athletes, archers and footballers are already enjoying the benefits of the smart £950,000 pavilion, which encompasses the MAC clubhouse.

The pavilion also provides storage for archery equipment and boasts eight grass football team changing rooms of which two are fully accessible for disabled athletes, changing facilities for teams using the three all-weather floodlit football pitches, two changing rooms for football referees, one fully accessible for disabled athletes, and a public toilet for park users.

The environmentally friendly building has a wood chip burner for heating and sun tube lighting in the roof to improve natural lighting in the rooms. The building costs were all covered by Section 106 developer contributions, while MAC contributed a £100,000 down payment to lease the clubhouse. This sum comprises £31,000 in grants from the council and the Prince's Trust and £69,000 raised by the club.

Cllr Simon Dudley, lead member for adult and community services, said: "This is an impressive new building both in terms of usefulness to the sports players and in environmental terms.

"The opening celebrations will be a great opportunity for Maidonians to come along and see the facilities for themselves, enjoy the fun activities and maybe even sign up to one of the clubs."

Dave Dando, MAC chairman, added: "MAC this year celebrates its 125th anniversary and we are delighted that the delivery of this excellent facility can form part of our celebrations. It is the culmination of many years of planning, negotiation and fundraising and we are deeply indebted to those club officers, past and present, who worked so hard to make this happen. We are also very grateful to the Prince's Trust and the council for the grants received.

"Membership of the club has doubled in the last 10 years and we fully expect growth to continue. The new clubhouse and its facilities provide an essential base for managing this growth and serving the needs of current and future users.

"The club is also committed to working with the council and our fellow Braywick Sports Association members to further enhance facilities at Braywick and, in so doing, offer improved sports participation opportunity to all."

The pavilion forms part of continued investment in Braywick Park and follows the installation of a new play area and two new five-a-side all-weather pitches.

The dilapidated former MAC clubhouse is set to be demolished and the area landscaped.

Further work to the park over the next six months includes more benches, landscaping and a new sustainability trail. The park was recently submitted for Green Flag accreditation and results are expected in July.

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