Emergency Pitch Drainage and Facility Upgrade

About Hullensians Rugby Club

Hullensians is a Community based Rugby Union Club run by a small group of unpaid volunteers managing to thrive in the heart of Hull, a city dominated by Rugby League. Since 2005 we have embarked on an ambitious programme to redevelop the facilities combined with a drive to promote a Rugby 4 All, by targeting all parts of our local community promoting the social, physical and mental health benefits of playing rugby. We now have 3 adult teams, a thriving Mini Junior section with over 150 members from U8 to U18 and are a registered O2 Touch centre where we offer a fully inclusive, non contact rugby experience for all abilities. 

COVID -19 Challenge 

But now Hullensians is facing it's greatest challenge in its 96 year history. COVID-19 has decimated our revenue stream and now that the RFU has cancelled all competitive rugby until September 2021 we are facing a significant financial challenge to survive. After the 2019/2020 season ended prematurely in March 2020 we had to cancel all events scheduled during the summer [weddings, birthdays, community sports days and charity events] including our main off season fund raiser "Party Under The Sticks"

Money raised during the summer period is ploughed back into the Club to sustain and support our facilities and get us ready for the following season. This season’s project was a programme of essential maintenance to upgrade and improve the underground drainage on our 1st team pitch, because it regularly becomes waterlogged.

It’s estimated that to date since Lockdown we have lost about £25,000 of income and with the RFU canceling all competitive rugby until September 2021 means the bar and clubhouse will remain closed on match days and we will suffer a further projected match day income loss of at least another £20,000 to £25,000. 

Because of this the Club has taken the difficult decision to cancel all essential maintenance programmes including the new drainage we desperately need for the 1st team pitch [The Project] so we can carefully manage our cash flow through these very uncertain times. We have worked hard to reduce our overhead costs but still have to find £1,600 a month just to pay the bills.

Despite the current circumstances, the prudent financial planning and actions taken by the Club should ensure that we can remain financially viable, but we are still experiencing short term financial hardship.  However we recognise that to improve the chance of the Clubs long term survival we still need to find a way of delivering this Project. Games called off due to water logged pitches means a further loss of revenue and fewer games / training sessions available to our members and strategic partners that access our facilities.

This is why we are Crowd funding and why we need your help!

The Project

If we are successful in hitting our Crowd Funding target we will be able to deliver the next phase of essential maintenance which is to upgrade and improve the underground drainage on our 1st team pitch, because it regularly floods after heavy rainfall.

The project will see new primary drainage channels inserted under the 1st team pitch in the areas impacted by flooding, at the same time we will level off the playing surface on both pitches with 100 tons of Sports Sand to remove any low points and verti drain them to help the water permeate to the drainage channels . 

This project is essential to future proof the Club so we can continue to play rugby at Springhead Lane and enable the next generation of players to benefit from the investment. It also means we can comfortably hand over the baton to the next generation of custodians and volunteers knowing we have done all we can to improve our chances of survival post COVID-19

Total cost for the project is estimated to be £9,800.00 

How we are going to contribute?

As well as reaching out for help by Crowd Funding we are also determined to contribute through our own fund raising efforts. The senior players and colts have set themselves a collective Iron Man Challenge which will see them;

• Run to Twickenham [230 miles]
• Row to Paris [214 miles] the venue for the next World Cup 
• Lift the combined body weight of the entire playing squads from RWC 2019. Each player will submit their maximum lift each week as part of the combined total 

In summary each player will need to run at least one 10K and row a minimum of 10,000 metres as well as bench press an agreed portion of the lifting target

We will keep you updated via social media of their progress and you can "sponsor" any of the players by pledging a donation on the Crowdfunding page and adding a comment with their name to the comments section.

Hullensians impact on our local community 

We have come a long way since we moved to Springhead Lane when our clubhouse was an old World War II prisoner of war hut with two changing rooms separated by a plywood wall and a shared bath sunk into the floor. 

Over the last 15 years the club's Committee has worked incredibly hard to improve the facilities and promote the Club on and off the field. During this period we have built a new Clubhouse, new changing rooms and installed solar panels and new match grade floodlights which could not have been delivered without a HUGE amount of effort and goodwill from our volunteers and members.

The Club has a strategic partnership with Wolfreton School and has supported their transition from playing no rugby at all to a full calendar of rugby union activities. We provide coaching for the pupils and host all their home matches and inter school rugby festivals at Springhead Lane.

In 2017/2018 we partnered with Hull FC [Super League rugby league club] to host their Academy and Reserves team fixtures under our new lights. The decision was taken because whilst we compete with Rugby League many of our junior players play both codes of rugby and we wanted to prove that we can co-exist. These games would attract crowds of 300+ and were well supported by the local community.

Our beautiful new Clubhouse is at the centre of our local community and is regularly hired for Christenings, Weddings and Funerals [Hatches, Matches and Dispatches] and is used by a number of other organisations such as our local slimming club, and other sports clubs who don’t have access to their own clubhouse. 

Charitable causes supported by Hullensians

Hullensians has always tried to put something back in to its local community and help those that have helped us over the years.

In 2007 our inspirational coach Simon Smith died of Motor Neurone Disease aged only 37. Keen to raise awareness and funds for MNDA and Dove Hose Hospice a series of 6 annual charity matches raised in excess of £30,000 for the two charities at the same time as uniting the local rugby community under a common cause.

We have also organised two charity bike rides to Scarborough [50 miles] raising £4,500 and £5,800 respectively for Cancer Research and The Baby Unit Fund at Hull Royal Infirmary. And in 2018 after the sudden death of one of our Mini Junior coaches from sudden cardiac arrest or Mini Junior Chairman rode 100 mile cycling sportive in Sweden which raised over £2000 to buy a Defibrillator for the Club.

We have always tried to put something back into our community and now we are reaching out to them to ask for help so we can continue to provide a safe and supportive environment for anyone how wants to enjoy the physical, mental and social benefits of playing rugby at Hullensians.

Thank You!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and we hope you can support us so we can carry out this essential maintenance. Please share across all social media platforms so that we can spread the message. We can't do this without you!