South Oxhey Rugby Club Thanks BNP for Help
Two British National Party councillors have been formally thanked at a special reception held by South Oxhey Rugby Club, Exiles, in appreciation for their hard work in helping to save the club, reports our Hertfordshire correspondent.
South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, close to the boundary with Greater London. In the 2009 Hertfordshire County Council elections, South Oxhey returned BNP county councillor, Deirdre Gates, and Three Rivers BNP district councillor Seamus Dunne.
The two BNP stalwarts were invited to share post match drinks and a game pie cooked in their honour at The Dick Whittington pub in Prestwick Road.
According to a local press report, Matty Sharpe, who got the club off the ground at the start of the season, said: “If it had not been for the help given by these councillors, our club could not exist.
“We needed money for shirts, balls, hiring pitches and so on.”
Councillor Gates was persuaded by Councillor Dunne to put £3,000 of her £10,000 allocation grant, available to all county councillors for community projects, into the club, while Three Rivers District Council put in a further £3,000.
Mr Sharpe was quoted in the local paper as saying the club was now “going really well. We have more than 30 members and two or three new people are turning up every week.”
Mr Sharpe dismissed any political association for the club. “I am not interested in politics, but I know this club is a good thing for the community and I need help from wherever I can get it,” he said,.
“Whether you like it or not, many people round here voted for the BNP.”
Councillor Gates pointed out that it “was not the BNP’s money, but council taxpayers’ money. I find it personally offensive that some people think it is somehow tainted.”
Councillor Dunne said: “This club is a very good thing for the South Oxhey. It is good for health and fitness and it helps foster a sense of community.”
