Grasmere Sports has been going strong for 175 years. We have weathered COVID, two World Wars, and (most importantly) the gradual erosion of the Lake District community, as family homes have been turned into holiday lets.
The most recent 2025 Sports was a very cheerful event. It was well-attended and successful. But we want to continue growing, to encourage more people to enjoy our spectacular landscape and sports. In particular:
1) We want to find new ways of supporting our local sports clubs.
2) We hope to encourage a new wave of volunteers, to get more involved on Sports day itself.
3) Our Grasmere Pavilion needs major repairs. We need our building to be fully modernised, to provide a better facility for everyone who uses it.
The reason that we volunteered, personally, is because we love the Sports. Our basic goal has always been the same: to keep the spirit alive, to raise funds to keep the Sports running, and to support our excellent professional team, above all else!
But we also need to address the long-term challenges that we face. To that end, the Grasmere Sports Committee will be working hard in 2026, on three main areas:
1) We will continue to encourage our local sports clubs, Young Farmer branches, and Grasmere Primary School with FREE USE of our field, when it is not being used for other events, for community or charitable sports. In particular, we would like to encourage our local fellrunners, Ambleside Athletics Club, to train on the famous Grasmere fellrace course. Come and try it out!
2) We are now saving up funds, with the goal of renewing our pavilion in 2028. Our goal is to repair our existing building to last the test of time.
3) We will create a fair and transparent route for more volunteers to get involved, from the Lake District community, especially from our Sports Clubs & Associations.
We would also like to correct some myths about Grasmere Sports. As directors, we are all volunteers. We are unpaid. We do not take dividends - this is actually forbidden by our company rules.
Grasmere Sports Committee Ltd is not a charity: we pay our fair share of taxes! However, our purpose is basically charitable. We exist to encourage mountain sports and adventure in the Lake District: from traditional fellrunning, wresting and hound trails, to the more modern sports of cycling, wild swimming, orienteering, paragliding, trail running, scrambling, ultra marathons, rock climbing, kayaking, and the like.
Sports are important here. They are a force for good. They are also a way of encouraging our young people to climb the fells, to get some fresh air, and maybe some perspective too.
If you have any questions or would like to get more involved, the best thing to do is to call our new Chair Paul Abbott on 07840 059561 or our Sports Manager Ian on 07949 724474.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2026 Sports, to be held on Sunday August 30th . In the meantime, we wish you a Happy New Year.
Hal Bagot, Chair of Grasmere Sports 2008 - 2020
John Hibbert, Chair of Grasmere Sports 2020 - 2025
Paul Abbott, Chair, Grasmere Sports 2025 -
