Budding Maro Itojes and Alex Matthews in Chipping Norton have been given a boost towards achieving their dream thanks to a new sports fund backed by former England cricketer Darren Gough.
The £100,000 Gigaclear Rural Sports Club Fund aims to support teams based in rural communities across the broadband company’s full-fibre network, which spans 26 counties.
Thanks to the fund, Chipping Norton RFC has purchased a pair of steel goalposts and post pads for the current season.
Club Chairman Patrick Neale said: “We’re hugely grateful to Gigaclear for supporting grassroots rural sport clubs through their fund. The new rugby goal posts will make a huge improvement to the main pitch in our 50th anniversary year and beyond. More than 250 players of all ages will benefit enormously from this investment in our facilities.”
Fund ambassador Darren Gough said: “Since launching the fund, it has gone from strength to strength, providing valuable support where it is needed most. It’s great to see so much kit and equipment being sent out to rural sports clubs such as Chipping Norton RFC. I believe it will help make a difference to players now and to the rural sports teams of the future.”
The community club, whose teams play their matches at Greystones in Burford Road, is open to players of all ages and abilities.
More than 3,300 homes and businesses in Chipping Norton can now access Gigaclear’s full-fibre broadband, which offers ultrafast speeds of up to 900Mbps.
