Bude Pilot Gig Club - Coronavirus Crowdfunding

Aim

Bude Pilot Gig Club is inviting the community to offer contributions to help bridge the shortfall created by coronavirus pandemic.

Bude Pilot Gig Club (BPGC) is inviting the community to offer contributions to help bridge the shortfall created by coronavirus pandemic.

Who and what is BPGC?

We are a friendly and welcoming Cornish Pilot Gig rowing club that gives people of all abilities the chance to experience Gig Rowing, including racing at regattas and attending social events. 

We are a thriving club with competitive race crews of all ages, ranging from juniors to super-veterans, and everyone in- between! 

We pride ourselves on being open to all and provide social rows for those who want to enjoy gig rowing in a more relaxed manner to keep fit and socialise, but without the commitment of crew training.

Why we need your help!

Rowing has not been permitted since the start of lockdown and the coronavirus and has had a devastating effect on our club finances. Although we are currently not rowing, we still have to cover our costs, including:

• Insurance fees
• Tamar Lake license (our training grounds)
• Boat maintenance for all three gig boats 
• Trailer maintenance
• Lifejacket servicing 
• Additional costs incurred by Covid-19, such as cleaning products to ensure a safe return to rowing

What are we fundraising for?

The good news is from September 2nd we are allowed to row again and will be back on the water! 

However, we have depleted all of our funds covering the above overheads and have had no income since lockdown began. 

We really want to grow our club and increase participation, but to do this we need enough equipment to support our current members and potential new ones! All of our equipment needs to be regularly serviced and maintained.

We need to raise money for:

• The yearly maintenance and service of our wooden boat - a minimum of £1,500.
• Cleaning products to ensure a safe return to rowing, approx. £100.
• Additional essential equipment for our first aid kit, approx. £50.

If we raise enough money we would also love a new set of oars! We currently only have one adult and one junior set. Each set of oars costs £3,000!

How do we normally make money?

We would normally fundraise throughout the year with a variety of events. This ensures we can cover all of our overheads, maintain our equipment and buy new equipment when needed. 

Last year our club Fundraising Officer raised over £1,000 with a variety of activities, including quiz nights, rowathons, sweepstakes and lots more! 

However due to social distancing rules it has not been possible organise any activities this year.

Furthermore, our rowers all pay £1 per row for every training session they attend. This raises over £2,500 per year of additional income. As rowing has not been permitted, we have completely lost this income.

We had big plans for 2020! We were going to hold a regatta at Tamar Lakes to raise money for a new set of oars. Sadly all of these plans had to be cancelled. 

How we support the local community

We always participate in local events and raise money for charity within the local community.

This includes Bude Lifeboat Day, Bude Heritage Day and Tamar Lakes Open Day. We offer taster rows at these events, as well as fundraising raffles and games to raise money for charity or the club.

Our club members have just completed a 6 week challenge, aiming to row, cycle, swim or run as many miles as possible. As a team they have completed 7334 miles and raised £5,100 for Children's Hospice South West!

Three of our members also rowed 5k every day through May and raised £1,500 for Cornwall Air Ambulance! 

We regularly hold quiz nights to raise funds for the club. These are well attended by the local community. We invite local businesses to donate raffle prizes. This helps to promote their business and in turn helps the club to raise money. On average our quiz nights raise £500 for the club, whilst supporting the local pubs that we use for venues. 

We are always trying to support local charities and the community, so we would love your support now! 

What's in it for you?

There are a range of rewards and offers available to people who donate from fun taster rows, merchandise, vouchers and a holiday! 

Sport England are currently offering up to 50% match funding. Therefore if we are successful with our application to Sport England we will receive up to 50% match funding of our £3,000 target!! 

So anything you donate now will go that bit further in helping us reach our goals!

Crowdfunder is also making it 100% free for community and charity crowdfunding projects during the coronavirus crisis.

A little more info on BPGC

We are the most northerly based Gig Rowing Club in Cornwall and have been rowing in the Cornish seas since 2003. 

We are based at the Upper Tamar Lake, on the outskirts of Bude. This allows us to row all year round, in a safe and scenic environment. During the spring and summer months, we row at sea as often as possible.

We travel across the South West, participating in regattas in some of the most stunning locations. Every year we attend the Cornish Pilot Gig Club World Championship on the Isle of Scillies, competing against 100's of other clubs. 

So what is Cornish Pilot Gig Rowing?

Cornish Pilot Gig rowing is one fastest growing sports in the country, and is the fastest growing female sport in the country.

The sport is rich in heritage. We row and race a fleet of traditional wooden Cornish Pilot Gigs, each gig is 32 foot long, six-oared rowing boat traditionally used for pilotage, harbour work and as lifeboats. 

All the Cornish Pilot Gigs built today follow the lines of the gig ‘Treffry’ built in 1838 and are speedy, seaworthy vessels, even in lively sea conditions.

There are six rowers and a coxswain in each crew and their success relies upon the skill of the coxswain plus the ability of the rowers to pull together under pressure, a combination of oarsmanship and fitness. 

These are unprecedented times and anything you can donate will be hugely appreciated! 

This project successfully funded on 30th September 2020