Barford Tigers H.C. Development 2025-26

Aim: Barford Tigers is a community based hockey club. Formed in 1966 it has become one of the most successful hockey clubs in the area.

Who are we?

Barford Tigers is a community based hockey club. Formed in 1966 it has become one of the most successful hockey clubs in the area with the Men’s first team playing in the National League and nine teams playing on a regular basis, including the Ladies section. We thrive by working with the local community to encourage physical activity, providing sporting and wellbeing opportunities and promote physical activity in culturally sensitive ethnic groups. As a hockey club we also believe it is important to increase youth sports here in Birmingham, hence the development of our large Youth Section which involves circa 50 girls and boys and that number is growing every year. 

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Why are we crowdfunding?

The success and growth of our club has put considerable pressure on the Club's resources and therefore we need to raise funds to maintain our position as an inner city hockey club and continue to serve the local community. We are also raising funds to enhance and grow our youth section. Every Sunday we provide coaching for girls and boys in Handsworth area. Our coaches are qualified and many are former Internationals so children from 6 years to 16 years can learn and develop life skills in a sporting environment. We also reach out to local schools to offer free coaching to encourage accessibility and participation for a broad, diverse and inclusive group. This allows us to offer hockey Scholarships to children, which provides free hockey and equipment to those with financial constraints.

Note: The Crowdfunder platform we are using to collect donations suggests a 10% "tip" to Crowdfunder by default, but you can set it down to 0% if you wish - BTHC does not get any of that "tip".  Adding (or leaving out) a "tip" for Crowdfunder is your personal choice as a supporter of Barford Tigers Hockey Club

If you're applying for extra funding, this is a good place to demonstrate why your project is eligible so refer back to the criteria to help complete this section

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How we’ll spend the money raised

Every pound raised through this campaign will go directly towards strengthening and expanding the impact of our club on the local community. Here’s how your support will make a difference:

1. Youth Development & Coaching

A key focus for the funds will be enhancing our youth programme, which provides weekly coaching to boys and girls aged 6 to 16. We’ll invest in:

• Training and development for our qualified coaches.
• Expanding our coaching sessions to reach more young people, particularly from underserved areas, by increasing the number of weekly sessions and available spaces.

2. School Outreach & Community Access

We currently work with local schools to deliver free coaching sessions. With your support, we aim to:

• Grow the number of partner schools we work with across the inner city.
• Cover equipment and travel costs so that we can deliver coaching directly on school grounds.
• Provide inclusive access to hockey for children who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

3. Scholarships & Equipment

We’re proud to offer hockey scholarships that include free access to training and full equipment. Crowdfunding will help us:

• Increase the number of scholarships we can offer to young people facing financial hardship.
• Buy new equipment (sticks, balls, kits, and safety gear) to support the growing number of junior players.

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Community impact

We believe we will help children to be better citizens, learn life skills, and lead more healthier, successful and happy life. Through sport we hope to teach youth to become more tolerant individuals and thus leading more cohesive community.

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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!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 14th August 2025 at 12:00pm