There’s been a LOT going on behind the scenes at Old Ruts in recent months and we wanted to share some of the highlights with you, our fantastic members:
🍹 Bar refurbishment
Phase One of our bar refurbishment programme is complete. This includes:
* New cellar system introduced.
* New coffee machine installed.
* Rear load fridges installed.
* Lines reorganised to allow for guest beers.
The next phase is already in progress and will include modernisation and redecoration of the bar area. More details coming soon.
🚧 Fencing & netting
* Work to secure our border along the east side of the grounds is due to be finished next week. Members will still have access to the club on this side through a new gate.
* We care about our local wildlife and pledge to replace all the old hedging that had to be removed with mature hawthorn hedges over the course of this winter.
* Boundary nets around football and rugby have been replaced.
* All of this work has been financed through grants from the Football Foundation and the ORA Centenary Fund, so there was no cost to central ORA funds.
⚡ Ground electrics
Power points have been strategically placed all around the ground, allowing remote access to electricity to all our sporting sections. Generators will no longer be needed, meaning power generation on our grounds will be quieter, greener, more flexible and more efficient.
🐶 Dogs
Dogs are welcome at Old Ruts but must be kept on a lead at all times – both inside and outside the clubhouse.
Our members’ safety and peace of mind is our priority, so managers have an absolute discretion to ask anyone to remove their dog and not bring it back to the club if they have concerns about the dog’s behaviour or if members are scared by its presence.
🔥 BBQ
We’re replacing the leaky roof of our BBQ, revamping the electrics and buying some new gadgets to make cooking in our BBQ area much more user-friendly.
We are, as ever, indebted to all our members who volunteer to work on the BBQ to raise much-needed funds for our sections. Please contact your section chairs if you can spare some time to do a BBQ shift.
🛠️ Facilities
We’ve engaged Landmark Facilities Management to be on call to fix any issues that might arise in the clubhouse, including problems with lighting, doors, shutters, heating or our water supply. Please report any problems you might encounter to the bar.
👩🍳 Kitchens
We are undertaking remedial work to get our downstairs kitchen back into full service, which is expected to be completed next month (October). Our upstairs kitchen is still available for food preparation but not for cooking – we will release plans on how we want to develop this area in the new year.
🚜 Grounds-person
We are actively seeking to recruit a full-time grounds-person to tend our grounds. We are advertising the role in the appropriate industry forums, but if any of our members are interested in applying for the role, please email Neil on nrobinson29@gmail.com.
🚻 Toilets
We at Old Ruts do not believe that any woman should not have access to sanitary products due to their high cost, so we plan to make such products freely available in the ladies’ toilets.
We have also installed a new Dyson hand-dryer in the ladies’ toilets.
Our bar staff check our facilities regularly but if you encounter any problems in the toilets, such as toilet roll or soap running out, or a toilet becoming blocked, please let our bar staff know.
🚯 Litter
We are placing more bins all around the grounds which we urge all members to use. If a bin is full, please let a member of staff know and find another bin or take your litter home with you. This is YOUR club so let’s all pitch in to keep it tidy and litter-free.
Until a new grounds-person is appointed, we are looking to recruit or two people for an hour or so on Saturday and Sunday mornings to ensure that our outside bar area is clean and tidy and the pitches free from rubbish. Please contact nrobinson29@gmail.com if you or one of your children is interested in applying for this role. Over 16s only.
⚽🏉🏏 Sections
After a successful cricket season – which saw membership of the section grow to its highest ever levels – it’s a big welcome back to rugby and football.
Football welcomes six new teams this season – including an entry level U7 team and, for the first time, an U18 team – while rugby has added its first ever ladies’ team and kicked off the season in spectacular fashion with the highly successful Ladies’ Day.
👨🎓 Rutlish School
To mark the continuing close ties between Old Ruts and Rutlish School (and its sister school, Ricards) we have voted to allow three years free membership to Rutlish and Ricards school leavers. Please contact secretary@oldruts.club to join up.
🅿️ Car park
Work on our new car park has been completed and will facilitate our parking needs for decades to come. Please observe the one-way entry and exit system.
📅 Events
We have a stream of events coming up at the club including the ever-popular GutsFest on Saturday, 4 November (see flier above). Tickets will be on sale soon at the bar or online.
We’ll be publishing a full programme of events soon, but in the meantime keep your eye on our social media channels for news of other forthcoming nights’ out, including quiz nights, comedy nights and discos.
We rely on fund-raising to keep improving our club so if anyone fancies running an event here to raise money for the ORA or for a particular section, please get in touch. Email events@oldruts.club.
ORA Trustees
