Resourceful judo club builds inspiring new dojo as part of new school partnership

The summer of 2015 has been a busy time for Berkhamsted based rushjudo. The Hertfordshire club entered into a partnership with nearby Ashlyns Secondary School, which was the start of an incredible journey. 

“We outgrew the last place”, recalls rushjudo Coach Laurie Rush. 

“As a club we’ve grown so much in recent years that we had waiting lists for all of our classes and members were not getting much room on the mat”. 

“One of the parents of a judoka at the club was also on the board of governors at Ashlyns and through her we got in touch with school”, explains Matt Rush, Special Needs Lead Coach at rushjudo. 

“The school had just built a new sports centre so it was agreed that we would build a new permanent dojo in their old gymnasium, which was no longer being used”. 

What followed was an incredible story of resourcefulness, community spirit and teamwork to make the dream of a permanent dojo at the school a reality.

The club started off by registering themselves as a charity so they could set up a MyDonate page and become entitled to gift aid, enabling them to claim back 25% of all of donations made. 

“We got the nod from the school and then had about 8-10 weeks lead up time during which we did all the research, got quotes and started to get all the tradesmen in place”, said Laurie who had done his homework well. Within weeks Laurie had managed to source everything they needed to transform the gym into a dojo. 

“We got all of our paint from Dulux, all the tiles to do the bathroom, £2000 worth of electrics and we got some brand new office furniture from a local company, all for nothing. 

“We also got all the wood for the new sprung floor at a discounted rate whilst all the carpentry was done for free by a judo player from a local club. 

“I basically wrote begging letters to lots of local companies selling them what we were trying to do with the dojo and they were really keen to help out and support us. 

The club was also able to raise £2,500 in grants from the Hertfordshire Charity Foundation and the Dacorum Trust, as well as the generous donations from the club’s membership to help fund areas of the project. 

However, the members made an even more precious and valued donation to the project, their time. 

As soon as the school broke up for the summer up to 20 volunteers were onsite almost daily painting and labouring for 6 weeks.   

“When we started we were really up against it time wise”, said Laurie. 

“But thankfully we had a great group of volunteers some of whom took weeks off work to help out. Parents of some of the judoka took a week off work to help too. 

“I’d leave the office and would go straight to the dojo and work on it until 10pm every day for 6 weeks straight. 

“It was a bit of a DIY SOS but the finished result is amazing”. 

The new dojo was officially opened in September by former World Champion, Ann Hughes 7^th Dan to coincide with the start of the new school year. It boasts a 16m x 11m permanent mat area on a raised sprung floor.

 The new dojo has allowed the club to increase its activity, doubling the number of nights it’s open from two to four, including an evening dedicated to judoka with special needs. 

“We have always run a dedicated special needs judo class for adults and we are now really excited about the new classes for juniors as well”, said Matthew Rush. 

Two weeks into the new school year the club already have 10 students in their special needs juniors section. 

For more information visit the club’s website at www.rushjudo.co.uk.