Newquay Hornets RFC Covid Appeal

Aim

To raise much needed funds to support our club during a period of increased running costs and reduced income whilst keeping fees affordable.

About The Club

We are the youth section of Newquay Hornets Rugby Football Club. Newquay Hornets RFC has been based in the town of Newquay for over 70 years, something we are all very proud of. However, this year has been one of the toughest yet! The whole club is run entirely by volunteers. The grassroots section currently has over 250 members, ranging from 6-year-olds up to 16-year-olds. The under 7’s and under 8’s teams play tag rugby, with all our teams from under 9’s and above playing contact rugby. We have mixed teams as well as a girls/womens section. 

We offer a full inclusion policy and any child within our community who wants to join our club, can. The club provides a vital lifeline for so many young people within the town and its surrounding communities. Children, and their families, become part of the team, the rugby family, many of whom would otherwise have been vulnerable and isolated from their community. 

We believe that together, we are stronger, ‘One Club, One Hornet’.

Why we do what we do.

Alongside learning to play rugby, we believe we offer so much more to the children. Playing sport is not only good for children’s bodies but is also good for their minds too. Physical activity has been shown to stimulate chemicals in the brain that make you feel better. 

So, playing sport regularly improves the children’s overall emotional wellbeing. Playing sport also helps to improve self-esteem in children. The support of the team, a kind word from a coach, or playing their personal best will all help the children to feel better about themselves. Playing in a team also helps the children to develop many of the social skills they will need for life. It teaches them to cooperate, to compromise, and to listen to the other children and their coaches. It gives the children a sense of belonging. It helps them make new friends and builds their social circle both inside and outside of school. 

When they’re playing sport, the children learn to win and lose, replicating the highs and lows of life. While winning creates excitement and pleasure, losing teaches the children to bounce back from disappointment, which this is an important part of becoming resilient.

Why we are doing this?

2020/21 has been one of the toughest seasons yet, with Covid 19 forcing cancellation of all training and matches.  

This pandemic has hit us all really hard, but Newquay has seen the highest rate of unemployment and loss of jobs, across the whole of Cornwall. The number of families accessing Universal Credit has reached unprecedented levels. We must support these families now more than ever. 

To support the community of Newquay during this time; this season we have reduced our membership fees and provided more subsidised places through our hardship referral scheme. Although to make this sustainable and to help more families, we need financial assistance going forwards. 

Last year the local authority, Cornwall Council, re-tendered the contract for Newquay sports centre and bar, it was subsequently leased to a private company. This has brought investment to the building but has meant we have lost access to many of our more traditional opportunities to fundraise. We rely heavily on our fantastic parent and volunteer network to run the club and would typically run 2-3 club days and festivals every year to supplement our income. We would have done this through refreshments, BBQs, cake sales, raffles, and presentation evenings.           This loss of income has left a sizeable hole in our finances.

Over the past year we have seen our costs increase for the use of the facilities, grounds, changing rooms and after match meals, we anticipate this will raise further in the coming months.

We now find ourselves having to create new ways to raise money for our club and your support through our Crowdfunder campaign is greatly appreciated.

What are we looking to fund?

1. We want to continue to make rugby accessible to everyone, we want to create more subsidised places available to people who need them through our hardship referral scheme.

2. We want to increase the number of qualified coaches, providing our youth sections with this increased set of skills, to ensure we can offer a more inclusive programme of events for local community and club members. Increase the number of qualified coaches and actively recruiting new coaches. We also want to train our coaches so they are able to support children with their emotional wellbeing and be equip to have sensitive conversations.

3. Improving Equipment, as you can imagine our equipment takes a battering year on year. We need to purchase new equipment but we have been unable to for the start of this season. We need new tackle bags and pads, balls, cones and general training aids to help develop skills whilst keeping everyone safe.

4. Making youth games more accessible to spectators. We want to make our matches and social events more accessible to the wider community. Rugby is a great sport to watch as well as play, bringing all ages of the community together for these sporting events can be the highlight of the week for so many people. 

To reiterate what rugby means to the children of our community, here are some quotes from our current members:

Knox after his first training session with the U7s; "This is the best day of my life"

Monty U8s; "I love seeing my friends and making new ones. Learning to play a team in a fun way, I feel happy, excitable and concerntratey when I'm at rugby"

Josh U9s; "Its a very special club which should keep going for ever and ever, so we can carry on enjoying rugby with friends and so others can too"

Freddie U9s; "Its fun to be in the mud and learning how to play rugby especially tackling" 

Sam U11s; "Its a great place where we can make new friends and keep fit whilst having loads of fun"

Zach U11s; "I love playing rugby with my mates, playing rugby helps me let off steam, the other Hornets make me feel at home.

Please donate as much as you can and help us deliver this project as soon as possible.

This crowdfunding campaign will hopefully provide us with the opportunity to get back on track, and if we can reach our £20,000 target over the coming weeks, Sport England may consider us for an additional pledge towards our cause.

Our current Under 9s Team

Our current Under 9s Team

One of our Under 12s beach rugby sessions, we use the beach when our grounds become too muddy to play.

Three of the lads after a training session with the Pirates in Penzance.

A Huge shout out and thanks to all the local business that have supported us.

This project successfully funded on 30th November 2021