EIRFC Development Fund

by Rob Bruce in Enfield, Greater London, United Kingdom

EIRFC Development Fund
We did it
On 21st December 2023 we successfully raised £21,685 ( + est. £2755.00 Gift Aid ) with 152 supporters in 56 days

The project aim is to help our club develop its' facilities to match community expectations, in particular for our female members.

by Rob Bruce in Enfield, Greater London, United Kingdom

Our club

Enfield Ignatians is North London’s most successful community Rugby Club. We have strong links to the local community, particularly through our youth section, with squads from Under-6s up to our first team who compete in the Counties 1 - Hertfordshire & Middlesex league. The club has both adult and youth members comprising two senior squads, 12 youth squads, girls’ teams and a team in the Masters Touch Rugby League, for those of us of an older vintage.

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Why are we crowdfunding?

The club is aiming to improve our facilities, especially for our female members and guests. Our planning application and lease negotiations with the council are progressing and the project will have various stages. The first part is to prepare the existing changing rooms for refurbishment and build the external works for drainage. The new build will follow this stage. We have applied for a grant from the RFU to make these improvements, but that will only cover about half of the costs, hence our need to Crowdfund.

Our aim is to turn our changing rooms into something more spacious, comfortable and welcoming, with suitable privacy. Below is an example of our current changing rooms and what we expect our new changing rooms to look like:-

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So what are we going to do?

We want to ensure that playing rugby is as equally enjoyable for girls and ladies as it is for boys and men. Our existing changing facilities do not allow both sexes to change at the same time as currently all our changing rooms are at one end of the corridor (see our photo below) and all our toilets and showers are at the other end, making it not feasible for males and females to change at the same time.

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We very much want both our male and female teams to feel an integral part of the club and enabling everyone to train and play play at the same time is central to our ambition. This means having to upgrade our changing facilities to ensure this happens, possibly in two stages. Initially to refurbish our existing 4 changing rooms into 2, with toilets and showering facilities contained within each changing room. Secondly we want to extend our clubhouse to incorporate 2 more changing rooms with the same facilities.1696947693_img_20231010_0002.jpg

The cost of doing this is beyond this fund, so we are going to have to seek additional RFU and other grant funding. However there are various tasks that need to be done in advance, such as ground, drainage, structural and tree surveys.

At the same time we are aiming to improve our toilet facilities for both ladies and gents as they do not meet current standards. As you can see in the photos below, the ladies loos are very cramped and gents loos do not provide much privacy. You can seen what the before and after will look like. This is the before:-

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And this is what the after will look like:-

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The ladies loos will be built to a similar standard.


Community impact

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The aim of this fund is to improve the facilities for the whole community, but in particular for females, whether they be players, officials, spectators or visitors. We will continue to work in local schools, with both boys and girls, to promote our game and with the aim of recruiting more players to our club. Also we will continue to run tag days, minis festivals and other events, to promote community involvement in our club. A 2022/23 analysis of our Youth Section revealed that around 26% of our members are from the most disadvantaged areas of the borough, we continue to target schools in that area to increase that percentage.

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!

Rewards

This project offers rewards in return for your donation. Please select a reward below.

£10 or more

£10 for a 10% discount on house plants

Support the club and get a 10% discount on house plants at Happy Houseplants by purchasing through their website:- http://www.happyhouseplants.co.uk Discount code to be supplied by Rob Bruce on take-up of this reward, which must be used by 31/12/2023

£5 or more

£5 Tea/Coffee reward

Support the club and get two free teas or coffees from the club kitchen reward. This offer is only available on Sundays

£5 or more

£5 Refreshing Drink from the Bar reward

Support the club and get a free drink from the clubhouse bar reward (maximum value £6.50)

£5 or more

111 of 120 claimed

£5 Youth Section Xmas Party reward

Support the club and get entry for one child to the Youth Section Christmas Party at our Clubhouse and meet Santa!

£5 or more

£5 for a £10 discount at STS First Aid

Support the club and get a £10 discount on any First Aid course or items purchased at STS First Aid. Minimum spend £100 to qualify for the discount. https://sts-firstaid.co.uk

£10 or more

2 of 9 claimed

£10 Matchday Mascot reward

This will give a Youth Section member the chance to be a matchday Mascot for a 1st team game of your choice

£10 or more

£10 for a 10% discount at the Club Shop reward

Support the club and get a 10% discount on your next kit purchase at the Club Shop. This offer is only available on Sundays

£10 or more

0 of 100 claimed

£10 Elvis Night reward

Support the club and get free entry for one adult to the Elvis Night party being held at our Clubhouse

£10 or more

£10 for a £15 MOT discount at Lavender Hill Garage

Support the club and get a £15 discount on MOT’s from Richard T Moore at Lavender Hill Garage

£10 or more

£10 for a £20 discount on a boiler service

Support the club and get a £20 discount on a boiler service from Howard Heating and Gas Engineers

£10 or more

£10 for a 20% discount on domestic carpet cleaning

Support the club and get a 20% discount on any household carpet cleaning with Kleentex. Minimum charge of £50 applies in order to qualify for the discount. http://www.kleentex.co.uk/eirfc.html

£15 or more

£15 for a 10% discount at Unit 3 reward

Support the club and get a 10% discount on antiques at the Unit 3 stall within the Crews Hill Vintage Emporium (please note this discount is not available on other stalls there).

£15 or more

£15 for a 10% Prudential window cleaning discount

Support the club and get a 10% discount on the first three (per household) window cleans from Prudential Window Cleaning Ltd https://www.facebook.com/PrudentialWindowCleaning/

£15 or more

£15 for a 10% Prudential gutter cleaning discount

Support the club and get a 10% discount on the first three (per household) gutter cleans from Prudential Window Cleaning Ltd https://www.facebook.com/PrudentialWindowCleaning/

£20 or more

£20 Matchday Supporters reward

Choose the reward and you will be added to the list of Matchday Supporters that will be framed on the Clubhouse wall.

£30 or more

£30 for a discount at Bush Hill Flooring Ltd

Support the club and get a discount from Bush Hill Flooring Limited, the amount of the discount being relative to the size of your project. (ADDRESS: Bridge House, 25-27 The Bridge, Harrow, Middlesex, United Kingdom, HA3 5AB)

£150 or more

£150 Player Number / Official reward

Your name will appear on our framed list of donors against the player number or matchday official of your choice

£250 or more

0 of 10 claimed

£250 for a £50 discount to Hire the Club

Support the club and get a £50 discount from the usual Club Hire price of £300. This reward is only available for parties where the main participants are over 25 years old. The full Terms and Conditions will be sent to each applicant and a refund will be made if these can't be met.

£500 or more

0 of 1 claimed

£500 for a 10% discount on of a Savile Row suit

Support the club and get a 10% discount on a Savile Row suit from Steven Hitchcock

£1,000 or more

£1,000 Commemorative Tie reward

Support the redevelopment taking place at the club and get a free Commemorative Tie as a reward recognising your donation towards our clubs’ future

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