Many people associated with Fylde RFC will know or have come across Rob Parr as a player, team manager and club Treasurer, and also as a local businessman. Many others will have seen him on BBC1 TV’s Breakfast programme in the last seven days in relation to his latest imaginative project in the Fylde Coast community (See https://bit.ly/3LZzTua).
Rob’s father was born and grew up in the Revoe district of Blackpool and Rob has retained great affection for the area and Blackpool more generally. He went to St Joseph’s College in Blackpool, learned rugby there and developed as a talented openside flanker who at 19 years old made his 1st XV debut for Fylde at one of the most challenging venues in English rugby, Gloucester’s Kingsholm Ground.
Young Rob received a call from the legendary Secretary, Peter Makin, on the eve of the last game of the season on 30th April 1983 as there had been a late call off of one of the established flankers. This was as tough a baptism as a young player could encounter against an experienced squad including a number of internationals.
It was memorable for Rob in another way. “After getting 10 stitches in my head after a ‘stray boot’ caught me in a ruck, I realised that I had found a game that appealed to my strange sense of pleasure and pain!” Although, predictably, ‘Glous’ came out on top by 22-4, it was a brave and respectable showing from an understrength Fylde squad.
Rob attended the University of Leeds and over the next couple of seasons travelled to and fro between Leeds and the Fylde Coast. He made 36 appearances over three seasons culminating in 25 appearances in 1984-5 and ending in a tense final Northern Merit Table game of that season against Headingly at the Woodlands on 27th April 1985.
By this time he decided to finish his academic career and start his professional life in Yorkshire. He initially joined Headingly RUFC and then in 1987 Sheffield RUFC. He had six very happy seasons at the Abbeydale Park club, running up no fewer than 163 appearances and ended up as skipper for his last two seasons.
He eventually saw the light (!) and moved back to the Fylde Coast in 2001 and picked up his relationship with his old club Fylde once again. His professional career was as a Logistics Manager and he has spent the last 25 years working with various companies.
In 2025 Rob became increasingly concerned about certain aspects of life in Blackpool and, in particular, the poor diet of some local people who have grown up eating ‘ready meals’ as a regular habit, although of course this is a UK-wide issue. Whilst Rob is the first to admit that he’s no cordon bleu chef, he reckons that cooking healthy meals with fresh rather than heavily processed ingredients is within the compass of everyone, and it saves money for hard pressed locals.
So he decided to set up premises in Revoe, an area with challenging social issues, to base a ‘cooking school’ where local people could come, learn some simple techniques and improve their diet and, in consequence their general health. He made the commitment to fund the venture himself in the first instance and once proven as a positive contribution to the community only then seek funds from individual donors and public/private sources. This was a pretty brave move on his part but, as he acknowledges up front, he is a maverick!
So ‘Come Cook With Us’ was born! The premises are at 145 Central Drive, in the heart of the town, providing free, hands-on free cooking classes. It empowers residents to cook healthy, affordable meals from scratch, boosting confidence and skills in a socially inclusive setting. The ‘teaching’ is one-to-one and very practical. The premises are open to all, 16.00-20.00 Mon-Fri, even if only for a cup of tea or coffee. Rob and his small band of volunteers have around 20 people receiving training at any one time through the two workstations, although he has ambitions that this number will grow once ‘CCWU’ becomes better known. Some of the locals who attend have barely cooked fresh ingredients in their lives so there is much to learn in this friendly environment.
Once more established, Rob has ambitions in the next five years to set up ten similar centres in and around the town. He’s taking a ‘business career break’ and spending all his time on CCWU, such is his commitment to it. He’s even moved house from Lytham to Revoe as he wants to be part of the community. “I love these people” he said.
He tells the story of one of his users who has had major problems of alcoholism, drug use, imprisonment and homelessness in recent years. Rob was teaching him about making an apple crumble but ‘learner’ soon switched to be ‘teacher’. He corrected Rob on the best way of making the crumble and in short order knocked up a brilliant version. Rob stood back in surprise and asked “where did you learn these skills?” “I’ve picked things up by watching cooks in prison and hostels” came the honest reply. Rob said “He’s amazing, and could easily develop into a fine chef! So don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m learning myself all the time and that is the ethos of the project” he added, a lesson for us all.
Rob is always looking for volunteers to give a little help with the day-to-day training and, of course, for any funding sources to help him sustain the project.
Contact: Rob Parr, 07794 554284; email: robparr1708@hotmail.com
PS And how appropriate it is that we issue this article a few days before Fylde RFC travel to Sheffield RUFC, Rob’s two senior teams, to take on the league leaders and likely National Two (North) champions when we reach the end of April!
