ALTON Rugby Club has played host to the club’s Age-Grade Festival, which attracted dozens of young players to the town’s Anstey Park facility.

Sponsored by the Lions’ Sporting Academy, the pitches were abuzz with players from under-seven to under-12 level who came from all over the area to take part in the competition.

And the occasion was made all the more special by the opening at the clubhouse of a new kitchen by 2016 BBC?MasterChef winner Jane Devonshire, who is also an Alton Rugby Club mum.

For many years, the clubhouse kitchen has struggled to meet the catering demands imposed by players, members and visitors – often hundreds at a time. After a period of intense fundraising, the club began work on an extension to house a new state-of-the-art kitchen in June this year and last month saw the new facility unveiled in all its glory.

Tom Mills, Alton Rugby Club’s president, said at the opening that he was “extremely proud” of what the club had achieved and that he was looking forward to seeing the new kitchen enjoyed “by members, and the wider Alton community, for years to come”.

In thanking all those members “who have worked tirelessly to fund and deliver the kitchen”, Mr Mills paid tribute as well as to the Alton Rugby Club’s “100 Club”, Hampshire RFU and the many suppliers who helped bring the project to fruition, including PSL Limited, Dave and Allan, Terry Plumbing Services, Darren Ford, Bruce Oliphant, Kubo Kitchens, First Stone Worktops, Hampshire Drawing Service, Electrifix, Browns of Alton, Chaplin Windows, Catering Appliance Superstore, WKL Building Supplies, and Caterplan Solutions.

Mr Mills was keen to note the particular contribution of the Roger Hammett Memorial Fund, which raised more than £3,500 toward the cost of equipping the new kitchen.

Roger Hammett was an Alton Rugby Club volunteer who was heavily involved in the running of the club’s Sunday kitchen. When Roger died, friends and family were determined to raise money for the new venture.

A plaque in his memory is now located outside the kitchen and was unveiled by his wife, Sue.