Collingham FC COVID 19 Crowdfunder

Who are we?

We are Collingham Football and Sports Club. We have been providing teams the facilities to play football for over 130 years (Since 1887 to be exact). We are home to 32 football teams, 2 pool teams, 4 darts teams and 2 skittles teams. We are also headquarters to the local Angling Association and our Golf Society. All of these teams and associations, along with our loyal social members, comprise the majority of our 1000 strong membership.

Above - Our oldest surviving photo (Est, 1900) and a photo of our quadruple winning Under 18s in 2018.

Our role in the community

We aim to provide everybody, of all ages and ability, an affordable way to participate in sport. Our Soccercubs entry session cater for those as young as 4 and our Walking Football boasts players over the age of 80!

Our Walking Football training (Above) is back, after the lockdown period. If you are interested in participating then get in touch with Pat Douglas on 07947977813. He hosts both Mens and Ladies sessions, beginners to regulars.

We also support local charitable events when we can. Last year, we were at the heart of a charity darts competition and raffle that raised nearly £4,000 each for the Firefighters charity and the Air Ambulance.

More recently we housed the Collingham Pantry during lockdown. Their valuable work delivered much needed supplies to those shielding during the lockdown period.

How have we been affected?

We have been unusually quiet the past 4 months. Normally a hive of activity, with meetings, events or games on every night, the lockdown has left our pitches, bar and facilities empty. We lost regular bar income, booked parties and hire of our 3G MUGA pitch. Perhaps most importantly we lost our successful 5 a side football tournament, which is a predominant part of our fundraising process each year.

Thankfully, during the last 4 months, Collingham FC, through the hard work of our committee, volunteers and members, have been able to cover all essential bills and maintenance around the ground.  

What are we Crowdfunding for?

We have been fortunate to have gained funding from a few sources during lockdown, these covered essential bills that needed to be paid, such as insurances, and the much needed maintenance of both our grass pitches and our popular MUGA area.

Unfortunately, additional unexpected costings have arisen. Ensuring a safe return to football and safe reopening of the bar area during this crisis, has cost us upwards of £1,000. Our mower broke down during lockdown, which is also estimated to cost over £1,000 and upon reopening our bar, we have discovered the cellar cooling system has come to the end of its serviceable life at a cost of £2,000. 

Moving forward, we also want to ensure that we are in a position to refund all 2020/21 membership on a pro rata basis if the upcoming season is effected in any way by the Covid-19 crisis. Protecting our membership investment is paramount, to ensure all of our members are not left covering the cost of another unexpected cancellation of games.

Committing to this comes with CFC outlaying multiple high expenditure costs from our cash reserves, such as kit expenditure, equipment, insurances, registrations and league entry fees.

What is being offered?

To help fund this we wish to offer rewards for the generosity of our members. We have aimed to appeal to everyone, so we really hope something will catch your eye! We also wish to thank all the local businesses and tradesmen who have worked with us on this Crowdfunding project.

For individuals we are offering:

• 2 Drinks in our bar
• Beermats Brewery Taster Pack
• Royal Oak Gift Vouchers
• Nicholsons Butchers BBQ Pack
• Buy A Brick Scheme (See below)
• Personalised Cornhole Sets, manufactured by Andrew Shaw.
• Painting and Decorating day from Groundsman, Gerry Williams

Pictured below are 2 previously made, personalised cornhole boards.

For businesses we offer;

• Kit sponsorship - Get your business logo on our iconic amber and black kit.
• Commercial Sponsor - Get an advertising board on our Multi Use Games Area or Bellamy pitch, plus other advertising streams

Also any donation, no matter how big or small, will be entered into a raffle to win an Amazon Echo Show 8 smart home hub. 

Buy a Brick scheme

We have also announced an extension of our superbly popular "Buy a Brick" scheme, which will be located on the exterior wall of our bar, next to the MUGA entrance.

Our Buy A Brick scheme was a roaring success 5 years ago, helping support the opening of our fantastic bar facility and we are now giving those who missed out and newer members a chance to etch their name into Collingham FC history. Just purchase the option to buy a brick and at the end of the fundraising period a club representative will email you with the relevant form for your brick inscription.