Old Spotted Dog Ground pathway and fencing work project now complete
Looking around London’s oldest senior football ground, you will hopefully see the results of a lot of hard work over summer.
Along both the clubhouse and the Ham Park Road sides, there are new concrete pathways and new pitch perimeter fencing. The ground is now more accessible and safer.
This marks the final stage of the Old Spotted Dog Ground Trust’s Pathways and Accessibility Project, funded by £10,000 of donations.
The project was completed in three phases: design and fundraising, installation of the scaffold fence, and finally the laying of the concrete path.
Each stage brought its own challenges, but thanks to creative thinking and a huge effort from volunteers, we have achieved something most clubs could only dream of: a new path and fence delivered at a fraction of the usual cost. A pitch perimeter fence alone can cost around £50,000 before labour. Our fence, however, uses recycled scaffold poles.
As is often the case with projects of this scale, much of the volunteering was carried out by a small group of people. Whether you were one of the lucky few who got to drive a dumper truck, one of the slightly less lucky people raking concrete in 35 degree heat, or someone who donated to the fundraiser; everyone played a vital role.
Many gave up their time to dig out the old turf and lay the concrete, with their expertise and contacts helping to deliver significant savings throughout the project. A special thank you to Joe and Nick, who led the final stage from start to finish and delivered such a significant piece of work in a far shorter time than we are used to with construction projects. We also relied on expert help and it is difficult to overstate the impact our friends at Betongpark had in getting this over the line.