Music events give Wiltshire grassroots sports clubs a boost

Music events give grassroots sports clubs a boost

Just now Share Save Rachel Candlin BBC News, West of England Ian Longdon BBC News, Wiltshire Share Save

BBC The Wiltshire Throwback Festival is being staged at Oakfield Stadium, with Tinchy Stryder billed to perform

A growing number of grassroots sports clubs claim that staging a large music festival can be a vital source of extra income. Corsham Rugby Club is hosting a family music festival, CorFest, on 21 June, to raise funds. And the first Wiltshire Throwback Festival is being hosted by Melksham Town Football Club and Melksham Rugby Club at Oakfield Stadium from 20-21 June. "From a football club perspective, we're probably talking about the festival making 15 to 20% of our (annual) income," said Melksham Town FC chairman, Adam Young.

"It will be a major bonus to get this in the summer when we don't have as many people coming through the gates." Mr Young said they relied heavily on sponsorship for most of their income and "every penny" counted when running a small club. "It's something that we've wanted to do, we've had a couple of smaller events here in the past, but to have 3,000-5,000 people at the site is incredible," he told BBC Wiltshire.

Adam Young said up to 20% of the football club's annual income would come from the festival

Melksham Rugby Club chairman, Aaron Brailey, said: "It's for the community, for the rugby club, for the football club, so we're genuinely really excited for it. "It's incredibly difficult as, historically, volunteers have always run the club, but we have aspirations to grow and we've got to take advantage of opportunities like this."

Aaron Brailey said the festival would "fill a void" in their income

Corsham Rugby Club is hosting CorFest for the third year running on 21 June. The family event raises money for the club, but also local charities, including Dorothy House Hospice and Corsham Food Bank. Chairman, Jim Williams, said: "Being a volunteer-led club, we like to help various local charities and it furthers our engagement with the local community, which is a priority for us. "It also brings in much-needed funds, without events like this, the club would struggle to fund things like kit, coaching, maintenance and pitch repairs."

The Wiltshire Throwback Festival is expected to attract up to 3,000 people per day, with the line-up including Boney M's Liz Mitchell, So Solid Crew, and Tinchy Stryder. Nico Menghini, co-director of festival organisers Jarboom, said after the licensing application was approved: "We're ecstatic, especially considering the amount of work we've put in to satisfy the authorities. "We're already in the early planning stages for year two," he added.

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