Stockport Rugby Clubs "Help Heat us" fundraiser

Aim: We are raising Money for a much needed new commercial heating&hot water system for our community rugby club to improve the clubhouse for all

Who we are and what we do......

Stockport Rugby is currently enjoying its centenary year, Originally formed in 1923 formerly as Davenport Rugby Club, the club moved to its current site and club house on Headlands Road, Bramhall in 1962 and renamed as Stockport RUFC in 1966. Things have changed a lot since the club began 100 years ago and we are now proud to be an all inclusive community rugby club that has over 400 children playing every Sunday, various teams for all ages and abilities and a clubhouse that the local community use.

Our fantastic ground in the heart of the Bramhall village Community allow us to run a wide programme of activities for all ages and abilities, as well as hosting community gatherings and large fundraising events which attract thousands of people to Headlands Road.

Our club is built on an ethos of respect, this is at the heart of what we do as a club and the people and organisations we work with.

In 1977 we were the first rugby club to pioneer a special needs rugby team which is now an integral part of our rugby clubs identity. Our "All Stars" team gives individuals with severe mobility and learning difficulties a chance to take part in sport and form relationships for life. The All stars are now affiliated with our local premiership rugby club Sale Sharks and often host matches against other special needs teams.

"Stockport Rugby Club is a fantastic example of a community rugby club that reaches out to a wider audience and encourages all to come and visit its home ground. There really is something for everyone and the club is run by a fantastic committee of dedicated volunteers who all want the best for the club" Cheshire RFU

We have a thriving mini and junior section with over 450 members age 4-18 years, 4 senior mens teams, Girls and ladies Teams, a veteran team, walking and touch rugby for male and females of all ages and abilities. We are proud in recent years to have  developed 2 full time professional rugby players in Tom Cruse and Tom Curtis who started their playing days as children at our club.

Stockport Rugby Club really is one big family club !

Why are we crowdfunding for our club ..... 

In 2020 we ran hugely successful crowdfunding campaign to improve our club facilities with a new outside catering facility , with your support we smashed our target and completed our improvement project during the pandemic year with additional help from sport Englands contribution. This enhancement to our club was a life saver in the pandemic period and enabled us to still host small events outside which in turn not only supported our club financially but massively helped the community come together in very lonely times. This facility we named "The Port " has brought us so much added value to the club including new social members and interaction with local residents who now pop up for a drink to see us and use the club. The Port has completely changed the clubs appeal and we are so grateful.

Two years on we are now asking for your help again, rising costs to keep the doors open and lights on are a huge challenge for community sports clubs like ours and as the cost of everything has risen so steeply repair projects and works that really need doing often get pushed aside as other expenses take priority such as utilities. We are funded from our membership subscriptions and fundraising events but we cannot increase membership fees to the level that would be needed to cover a project like this, yet without out we would lose members when there is no hot water or heating and people don't feel that the club is well maintained, we also do not want any health issues through old not hot enough water being stored in old tanks too long.

What We Need and why ........

Our Club is a safe and warm welcoming place for all and in recent months it has become apparent that we are rapidly losing the warmth! Our very old boiler and heating system are on their last legs and for the majority of last season the showers would only provide hot water for a short period leaving lots of muddy children and adults cold and dirty or having to wash in freezing water !

The heating system within the club is also run from the 2 current old boilers and not only is it highly expensive to maintain and run but it often breaks down leaving the club cold. The Pipework is old and in poor condition and cannot deliver enough pressure to service the demand. We need a complete new system and plumbing to the entire club house and changing areas with additional new showers. Since the 2022 commonwealth games and the women's rugby sevens we have seen a sharp increase in the number of girls wanting to play, we need a new girls shower area for our new ever increasing female members.

How we’ll spend the money raised

With the funds raised from this campaign we will be bale to instruct works to start on a full rip out of the existing heating and hot water system and re plumb the club with 2 new fit for purpose energy efficient boilers that will enable all who use to the club to have hot showers and a warm club house all year round. Our "Help Heat us" campaign will provide us with much needed funds for this work and we are also hoping to raise enough money to carry out some much needed maintenance works on our pitches to help the grass improve for better use through out the year. We will fit all new pipework to the club, install a new commercial heating and hot water system that is safe and energy efficient, and finally fit new efficient thermostatic radiators and new showers. Our M&E engineer commented;

"From the start, this proposed project needed to benefit the community and be environmentally sustainable. Plus, the new hot water system has to meet all health and safety requirements in relation to Legionnaires’ disease, particularly with the number of showers that have been installed. The new system will produce hot water instantly to avoid problems with large volumes of stored hot water at lower temperatures. This means any Legionella bacteria naturally present in the cold water supply doesn’t have a chance to multiply before being delivered to the showers.” Wilo Plumbing Contractors

Community impact

As well as our 700 current members from age 4-100 years and from all abilities and communities , we also enjoy weekly visitors from non rugby members as we open our club house most days and evenings to all.

We donate the use of our club house to local charities to hold training days, Millies Trust (a local paediatric first aid training charity) use our club for its paediatric first aid courses. We hold sports coaches training courses , football festivals, community meetings for matters that effect the local areas such as town planning matters, and we also hold events at the club such as family fun days. 

The club is also offered for hire to all for weddings, parties and funerals bringing in much needed income - all these activities cannot happen if we have no heating and hot water in our club.

We also hold rugby taster days where we invite local schools to bring all their children to our club during their PE and games lessons and one of our volunteer coaches will conduct a session to gain interest in the sport and our club, all the children love doing this and getting a little trip out of school ! Schools that are not so fortunate to have large grass pitches use our club for fixtures and training, it is a pillar of the local sports community. We are actively part of an RFU programme to interact with local schools and give all children the opportunity to try rugby and sport.

The Club often hosts outdoor fitness sessions and our grounds are open to the public so we are often frequented by many dog walkers and families who enjoy walking around our grounds, this also actively encourages non members to visit us and support us.

We also have a children's soft play area in our former squash courts building on our site that is visited by many people weekly - bringing more community interaction and visitors to Stockport RUFC.

How our Project will be united by Birmingham 2022....

Following the commonwealth games in 2022 which took place in Birmingham less than 90 minutes away from our club we have actively encouraged the local community to come and use our club and its ground for health and well being. Whilst we are rugby club and had significant interest in rugby and rugby sevens following the games we also found people were keen to be more active and to get outside more ! We have opened up our club since to football and running clubs to use our grounds and embraced the ethos of the games of bringing people together, and improving health and wellbeing. By having a club that welcomes all , rugby playing or non rugby playing, we have connected with our community and brought sport to more newcomers than ever before. We launched a new initiative to increase our membership in our girls section by offering a fun fitness and balls skill session on a Sunday morning with a volunteer coach whilst their siblings are playing or training. Normally expected to stand and watch on the sidelines we saw the opportunity post Birmingham 2022 for us to tap into this female playing pool and have encouraged the girls to use the time spent at our club positively by exercising and having fun and discovering a new sport, this in turn has continued to drive our girls playing section onwards and upwards. 

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Please Help Heat Us !