Faced with the final costs for the type of foam fence required to get Speedway up and running again at Mildenhall Stadium this year, the Supporters Trust's Steering Committee have made an urgent 'call to arms' for those in the locality and in the wider sport to make one more big push to make it happen for the 2025 season.
On behalf of the Steering Committee, joint-coordinator Kieran Phillips said, " 'I have a dream' is not a phrase you would normally associate with Speedway, however it’s very appropriate and has been for the Steering Committee since we were formed. Every step of the way we have negotiated obstacle after obstacle, we been met with sniggering and silence, but always found a way to take another step towards bringing racing back to West Row.
"They say a club is nothing without fans. The Fen Tigers family and the Community Interest Company [CIC] have been nothing short of amazing: buying into our "dream "and providing us with the funds to be able to give us a kick start so to speak.."
Phillips went on,
“Where we are now is nothing short of a minor miracle, however with continued talks with the foam company, we realised that to be able to get racing on we are still short of the mark in fiscal terms. With the foam idea being very much planted in people's minds we will not scrimp on safety. We cannot and will not have a rider's injury on our conscience.”
Fellow co-ordinator Steve Ribbons explained the latest position, "Speedway clubs and tracks are falling by the wayside year after year. We at Mildenhall Speedway do not want to be one of them. Local football clubs, rugby clubs, hockey clubs are all under financial pressure and more and more often they are under pressure from housing developers. We, at Mildenhall are not in that position, the track and stadium are there and ready to go - we do however need to make the track as safe as possible.
"What we need now are the funds to purchase the foam blocks for the new style of safety fence we described at our recent fans' meeting. After a long lead-in period we have managed to get the price for everything we need - which is supplied for £17,550.00 plus VAT. This is of course a massive saving of the price that was initially quoted by the supplier used by the British Speedway Promoters Ltd. affiliated clubs of £76,000 + VAT.
"But though a much more realistic cost, it's one that currently the CIC Trust funds can't meet and so we are now opening up the chance for new members to come on board with this unique Community Trust venture. So we are asking now, through this public statement, for fans of the club, those who signed up to the Trust but haven't yet subscribed and others and the Speedway family far and wide to join up. There's a full explanation about what becoming a Trust member involves here
Ribbons added,
"We have at points been somewhat surprised at the nay sayers and criticism of this venture by some people who are supposed to be fans and our answer to them is that if we don’t try, no one will try. There is no would-be promotor coming along to rescue the club; even less so now people know they face large start-up costs. So who better than the fans themselves? Now is the time for those people who were at our initial meeting who said they would join the Community Interest Company and who have not yet done so, to come on board with their £100. The success or failure of this project now stands or falls by the supporters and their desire to see the Fen Tigers back on track”.