Ground and facilities improvement for BCFC

Who Are We

We are a local community based club in Teesdale. We have just moved leagues and joined the growing Wearside League with the aim to gain promotion to the 1st Division (semi-professional football). In order to compete in the 1st Division, we need to improve our changing room facilities to include separate showers and toilets for the Home and Away teams. We will also require some minor ground changes if we succeed and gain promotions. Our target is that Barnard Castle FC becomes the main hub of adult football in Teesdale which provides a pathway for youth players to progress into senior football. This however cannot be achieved without the necessary investment and facilities improvement.

Community impact

Our target is that all age groups will benefit from the improvement at the Tens Field. It would be fantastic for the town to have a male adult football team that are competitive at a semi-professional standard, which the community can really ‘get behind’. We have close links with Barnard Castle Youth FC and both clubs are now flourishing. It would be to the benefit of all those interested in football within our community, if we were able to deliver on the outlined project.

We are also hopeful that improving facilities will help grow the number of people involved in football. We have recently had a walking football team using our facilities recently, and we hope to have greater female representation in the not too distant future.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We want to extend our changing facility to provide separate showers and toilets for both the Home and Away teams.

We have funding agreements (in principal) with the County Durham Community Foundation, the Teesdale Action Partnership and the Football Foundation. These funding agreements will cover the majority of the project but we will still need to raise approximately £5,000 to complete.

Like many, we were hit by the pandemic and at times it felt like we might not return. However, thanks to our committed volunteers and the financial support of varying grant funders, we are now growing on and off the field. This project is the 3rd phase of a 4 part development plan. 

How we’ll spend the money raised

All the money will be spent on improving our changing facilities. We have planning permission approval to extend our changing rooms by 3x6 metres at either side. The extended areas will house showers and toilets for the Home and Away teams which is a requirement to compete in the 1st Division of the Wearside League.

How our project will be United by Birmingham 2022

This fundraising is linked to the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. Improving our changing facilities will help us to grow and succeed, by contributing towards a more positive gameday experience for the players and officials who use the facilities. In addition to this it allows the club to compete in the higher league structure. The games are the catalyst for the funding programme which is creating a local legacy for the games.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

How you can help

1. Make a pledge and donate. 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. Get involved and convince others to pledge and donate. 

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, 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!