Rhyl Rugby Club slide broken following illegal camp parking on site

The damage, representatives of the club have said, was caused to a slide by members of an unauthorised encampment, who parked about 15 caravans on the club’s playing fields last weekend.

Damage to the slide is irreparable, the club has said, so the unit will need to be replaced, with a fundraising target of £1,500 already having been surpassed.

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Mark Fell-Crook, who coaches the club’s under-sevens and under-14s teams, set up the fundraiser on the website “GoFundMe”.

You can donate yourself by visiting: www.gofundme.com/f/rhyl-rfc-playground.

He said: “Hundreds of kids use that playground. The slide has been whacked with metal poles or something, so it’s all been dented and ripped the metal, so there are sharp bits sticking out.

“We’ve got to replace the slide, essentially, so that’s what the money raised is going to.

Police at the scene last weekend (Image: Cllr Brian Jones)

“I know there were some first aid kits which have gone missing, as well, but I think just the slide was damaged at the playground.

“It’s all on CCTV. If we go over the target, we’ll get the first aid kits replaced as well.”

The playground was originally opened in July 2020, and was built in memory of club legend, John Hardy.

From May 6-8, the club was forced to close until the encampment’s departure, with a wedding reception at the premises among the events which were affected.

Rhyl Rugby Club’s Monday night fun club for adults with special needs was also cancelled.

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Mark added: “It was a real shame, but luckily, everything got re-arranged. The wedding reception was moved, Abergele RFC offered us their ground for our games… there’s just a great rugby community around here.

“The money will pay for a new slide, but the company who built the playground initially have offered to come and install it, free of charge, as a goodwill gesture.

“The community has been amazing, it (the money raised so far) is absolutely fantastic. About two hours after starting the fundraiser, I think we were halfway (to the £1,500 target) already.”

A spokesperson for Rhyl Rugby Club added that there is “absolutely no doubt at all” that the damage was caused by members of the encampment.

The spokesperson added: “Most (of the issues with slide) are just cosmetic but some (of the damage) has penetrated the top coat of the metal, and are showing signs of rust already.

“We can't just replace the metal as it's bonded in place, so we have to have a complete replacement unit.”