Help RTW Monson Swimming Club

Aim

Please help RTW Monson Swimming Club raise £10,000 to stay afloat

About our club:

RTW Monson is a non-profit community-based swimming club, serving Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and East Sussex. Volunteer run, with a rich history of over 100 years, we offer swimming lessons, water polo, squad-based swim training and we compete both individually and as a team. As a club, we take pride in being open to all and are non-selective, with a swimming pathway taking beginners through to elite athletes.  There is a place for everyone. We also offer a hardship fund to support any members that may be struggling, to ensure our young swimmers can stay in the water participating in the sport that they love. At Monson you become part of a family and form lifelong meaningful friendships. Many young members go on to learn further skills in our volunteer programme and for some it may even be the start of a career in lifesaving, teaching or coaching.  

The first quarter of 2020 was an exciting one for the club, topping the medals table at the Kent County Championships and reaching the ‘B’ finals for the prestigious National Arena League in Cardiff for the first time ever. We also have swimmers selected this year for amazing teams and programmes such as the GB Downs Syndrome Team, Swim England Paraswimming Youth Development programme, British Paraswimming Academy, and various swimmers on the National, Regional and County development programmes. Recently one of our coaches was also selected on the Para Swimming National Coach Development Programme and our Head Coach has just been selected for the Swim England National Junior Squad programme. It is hard to comprehend the amount of hard work, dedication and sacrifice many of our swimmers and coaches have to put into the sport and we are so proud of all our members achievements both in and out of the pool.

Lockdown:

To be plunged into lockdown in March was tough on everyone, particularly our young athletes training up to 17 hours a week, gearing up for Regionals, National and Olympic trial competitions, that were sadly not to be.  We battled through online together with fitness sessions, challenges, competitions, baking, quizzes and squad socials, trying our best to keep fit and stay connected!

We were all so excited to be back in the pool as soon as we were allowed to in July. The look of joy both then and in November when swimmers managed to race in the virtual Level X competition reaffirmed the value of swimming for our members and volunteers. It is more than just a sport to us. The sense of team, the fitness, work ethic, resilience and mental health benefits for our young people cannot and should not be taken for granted.

The Impact of Covid-19:

Swimming was suspended for 3 months in summer and again for the latest 4-week lockdown in November, in line with government restrictions. Sadly, for us this was during our biggest fundraising part of the year, with two home galas, our Annual Awards night, Club Champs and raffle opportunities from hosting league galas all cancelled. 

The club have also lost over 10% of our membership since the start of lockdown.  This coupled with increased pool and coaching costs due to Covid restrictions on numbers (and all the associated Covid expenses) means we are really struggling. 

We have tried to shield members from these cost increases as we appreciate so many are struggling but the club now needs help.

What are we fundraising for?

• Paying for additional pool and coaching time to ensure everyone can swim, with Covid restrictions limiting numbers in the pool. We would also like to get all of our squads back to their Pre-Covid swimming schedules as most squads are still in deficit as we simply cannot afford any more sessions
• Paying for expenses associated with Covid guidelines at swimming/waterpolo
• Paying our coaching team to ensure our members stay fit, both physically and mentally during any further lockdowns
• Paying for coach and volunteer training and certificates
• Funding land training sessions, something we are struggling to do at present for most squads
• Top up our hardship fund to ensure our Monson family can stick together
• Replenish reserves in case of further restrictions

Crowdfunder Rewards:

Crowdfunder allows us the opportunity to put up prizes and prize draws. This offers a way of donating but also receiving something in return and all rewards are open to anyone to purchase and enter (see here for Terms and conditions). Examples might be a florist offering a voucher or a gift. Anything helps. 

We are also looking for prizes to be put up as rewards, from members and the local community.  Please do get in touch if you would like to offer something.  We will happily list all sponsors on our website and Crowdfunding page providing exposure for your business. Every bit of help is hugely appreciated.

Rebuilding our Club and Sports England Funding

If we raise 25% of our target from 50 different donations, we can apply for Sports England ‘Active Together’ funding. They match between 30-50% of Crowd Funder donations up to a £5000 contribution, but only if we hit our initial target which we have set at £10,000. If each current squad member could raise £29 and we raised £5000 and this was kindly matched by Sports England, we could potentially raise a much needed £10,000. Over the coming months we will be hosting a serious of activities such as Crowdfunder prizes, raffles and sponsored events to try and reach our goal. Please join in and help your club survive. This doesn’t have to be about just giving money, you can also help the club by donating prizes or your time to help out. We hope that both current and old Monson members and our local community will pull together to help us reach our target and keep Monson afloat for generations to come. 

On behalf of everyone at RTW Monson swimmers, players, parents and volunteers thank you for any support you are able to offer.

This project successfully funded on 4th January 2021