Godalming Swim Club Covid Appeal

Who are we?

We are an ever growing swimming club based in Godalming who welcome swimmers of all ages and abilities. We compete in galas & meets and hold a range of social events each year.  Over 45 years thousands of local swimmers, volunteers and families have benefited from the club.

Why are we raising funds now?

Since March and due to the Covid-19 crisis, we've been unable to give our members pool time.  Swimming is a fantastic sport and we have over 200 local people of all ages who are desperate to get back to the pool.  Land training in our living rooms and keeping in touch over Zoom can only go so far!

GASC made the decision to stop collecting training fees during this period of inactivity.  However, our reserves were not designed for a crisis of this duration and so we have been looking at other ways to make sure our club remains in existence for many years to come.

Based on the current phased return to swimming later this year we are forecasting a loss of approximately £10,000. We've had to cancel our Open meet in September which is a significant source of income, relied upon each year to support the growth and development of the club. Finally, we will need additional funds to manage a safe return to swimming (e.g. more pool time to accommodate social distancing measures and increased safeguarding measures). 

Youtube Video by our GASC Captains

What will these funds be used for?

We are raising funds to help keep the club afloat, to ensure we can continue to offer the local community the opportunity to be part of a friendly, supportive and competitive swimming club.  Money raised will be crucial to keep the club financially viable and able to offer high-quality swim training in the Godalming area.  We need to retain and support our coaches, help build a club hardship fund to support members going through financial difficulties, and get swimmers back to the pool. The club also organises and funds the popular Godalming junior schools Swim Gala every year and we want to be able to keep running this.

We really believe that Godalming Swim Club provides a fantastic environment for the local 'youth' to develop both their swimming and social skills and we want to offer this opportunity for many, many years to come.  

Boost money raised!

The good news is that Sport England and Crowdfunder have now launched a fund to help swim clubs like GASC.  We have set a target of raising £3,000 by the end of July. If our fund application is successful, we could receive up to £1,500 from Sport England towards that target!

We are a big part of the Godalming community and hope that you will contribute to our project.  

Many thanks in advance for your support (oh, and don't miss our rewards!)

Win Prizes!

Everyone who donates £15 will be entered into a prize draw, if you can stretch to double that amount (£30) then you will get two prize draw entries!  Make sure you add a comment when you donate and you will be added to the draw.

The prizes are as follows:

• £50 Waitrose Voucher
• x 2 GASC goody bags - to include pair of Speedo goggles
• Three months FREE training. There will be two winners selected at random (for new joiners and current members)

Terms and Conditions:

• Winners will be drawn at random by GASC Chairperson.
• No cash prize equivalent
• All club swimmers are eligible for prize.  Including committee members
• Prize cannot be used to claim reimbursement against past training fees
• All other club fees must continue to be paid for the period involved e.g. Annual membership
• Prizes will be drawn by end August 2020