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Lewes AC Ready for Take Off with Newly Re-surfaced Track
Members and guests of Lewes Athletics Club marked the official re-opening of the Lewes Community Track on Tuesday evening 24th November with a mass celebratory run round the recently resurfaced track. Each finisher and guest then enjoyed a slice of cake. Chairman Peter Masters ceremoniously cut the ribbon at 7pm and club member and guest for the evening Ian Cumming fired the starting gun. Nearly 300 club members aged from 9 to 75 took in the 400m run and then made a beeline for the club tent for the cutting of the cake. This had been specially baked and presented to the club by Ian a finalist in the 2015 Great British Bake Off.
A big thank you from Peter Masters the Chairman of Lewes AC was extended to the partners whose financial contributions enabled the resurfacing project to happen. The £160,000 required to resurface the track was raised by the club and only made possible by contributions from a number of other organisations. These including East Sussex County Council, England Athletics, Lewes Town Council, Priory School, Sussex Athletics, Sussex Downs College, Wave Leisure. The club itself contributed over £50,000 towards the resurfacing project.
Microphone in hand Club Chairman Peter took the opportunity to thank those for their help and contributions and in doing so he highlighted some of the many and varied achievements and outstanding performances achieved by the club and club members over the last 12 months. He shared with guests the club’s motto – Success through enjoyment and emphasised this covered both athletic success as well as social and life skills success.
The realisation of the motto was evident by the energy and enthusiasm on display throughout the chilly evening’s event which also included full training sessions. The club has continued to grow in numbers and strength over the last few years and the string of activities and list of achievements certainly convinced visitors that Lewes AC has something for everyone. The club offers athletics in every discipline to every age and ability and with over 46,000 individual uses of the track through the year it is no wonder that the track needed resurfacing.
On the fund raising effort which has taken over a year Chairman Peter Masters commented that it was truly a cooperative effort by all those concerned. The club, never one to pass around the begging bowl, led the resurfacing project and by injected its own funds into the project and by showing the contribution the club makes to the local community, persuaded others to come on board.
Councillor Elkin the Deputy Leader of East Sussex County Council and Project Manager Clare Rowsell congratulated the club in their effort to raise the funds. The re-opening ceremony was joined by Tony Smith and Ian Fines from Priory School, Martin Etchells the President of Sussex County Athletics, the Mayor of Lewes Councillor Susan Murray and her Consort Roger Murray from Lewes Town Council, David Fern from the contractors Charles Lawrence, Wave Leisure Chief Executive Duncan Kerr and Neil Deans and Elspeth Turner from England Athletics. They all wished the club continued success and hours of pleasure on the newly surfaced track.