{"id":205,"date":"2019-04-16T11:22:30","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T10:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/?p=205"},"modified":"2019-04-16T12:14:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T11:14:00","slug":"volunteer-grounds-team-using-wiedenmann-xf-hailed-by-rfu-pitch-supremo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/volunteer-grounds-team-using-wiedenmann-xf-hailed-by-rfu-pitch-supremo\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer grounds team using Wiedenmann XF hailed by RFU pitch supremo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Wiltshire rugby club which took a huge step four years\nago to keep its five pitches and training areas playable has received a massive\nboost from one of the top names in English rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC applied for a Rugby\nFootball Foundation (RFF) grant and sought funds from a Sport England grant for\ngrounds maintenance equipment. With funds in place, and after receiving expert\nadvice from Keith Kent, Twickenham\u2019s Head Groundsman through the RFU\u2019s\n\u2018Groundsman Connected\u2019 scheme, they chose a Terra Spike XF6 refurbished through\nWiedenmann UK\u2019s own workshops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South West 1 club runs three regular senior teams,\nsix 13 \u2013 U18 junior teams and six age groups from Under 6-12 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward four years.  Keith Kent on his return celebrated the efforts\nof the dedicated volunteer grounds team. Assessing the\nclub\u2019s Ballards Ash facility as part of a review programme, he reserved highest\npraise for those who give up their time for free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a written report circulated to club members, he said:  \u201cIt is a few years since I last visited the\nclub along with Dave Stubley, (RFU Funding & Facilities Manager). I\nreturned with Jon Bendle (RFU, Area Facilities Manager) and was absolutely\ndelighted with what I found. What a transformation. What a club house. What a team\nof great volunteers that represent this great club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special praise was also extended to contractor, Bretton King, who is\nemployed by the club to implement major improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving specific advice for improving each of the club\u2019s pitches, Keith Kent\nsummarised the combined efforts of contractor and volunteers by commenting:  \u201cThe renovation works are all in hand with sand,\naeration, seed and feed all being done to the highest standard. If we get a\nhalf decent summer pitches will bounce back and be at their best. Please keep\nup the maintenance work on your pitches in-house. The chain harrows are a great\npiece of kit and your very own Wiedenmann XF6 has made such a difference to\nyour pitches. Congratulations on buying this machine. I have one at Twickenham\nand wouldn’t part with it for the world. \nA Wiedenmann Terra Spike is just what I would wish for every club in the\ncountry. It is an awesome piece of kit and one that you must use was often as\nyou can. It is the difference between having good pitches and not. Remember\nonly to go on when the weather and the conditions allow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realistically\nvolunteers try to aerate a full pitch every week in rotation.  Applauding Royal Wootton Basset\u2019s\nfuture proofing, the top tier Head Groundsman said:\n\n\u201cYour equipment shed is\njust awesome! I am so jealous of you. I showed the pictures to my staff and\nthey were laughing that you had more room than we have. Well done to the club.\nThey had the foresight to build for the future and that included the\ngroundsman, his team and his equipment.\u201d            \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Wiltshire rugby club which took a huge step four years ago to keep its five pitches and training areas playable has received a massive boost from one of the top names in English rugby. In 2015, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC applied for a Rugby Football Foundation (RFF) grant and sought funds from a Sport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions\/225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}