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Pontefract RUFC Return from Covid Fund
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Aim: We are calling on you - our wide community of players, members, supporters & friends - to help raise £20,000 for our Return from Covid Fund
Who We Are: A Brief History
Pontefract RUFC is a community rugby union club, which has the objective of providing the best facilities to enable the men, women, boys and girls of the local area to enjoy the benefits of playing rugby.
Rugby Union has been played in Pontefract since the late 19th Century, with the club being based at the Moor Lane ground since 1967. Previously games were played at Pontefract Park. The club’s 1st XV currently play in Yorkshire Div. 1, which is Level 7 of the RFU national league structure, and has two further senior teams (2nd XV and 3rd XV) as well as a range of Junior Teams for both boys and girls. The club has ambitions to increase the number of boys and girls participating in the sport, and in particular to be able to field a Senior Women’s team in the future.
Our club has a strong ethos and remain committed to our values, which we can summarise in three words:
1. Community
2. Opportunity
3. Inclusion
Santa visits our Clubs younger members every year
The Effects of Covid-19 on Pontefract RUFC:
The global COVID-19 pandemic has created a very uncertain landscape for grassroots sports clubs which is going to make it very challenging for them to survive – and like many others, Pontefract Rugby Club has suffered greatly during this on-going situation.
Much of our usual income throughout the year comes from being able to run the bar, various sporting activities, not least Rugby, host fun days, as well as social events and functions, such as weddings, festivals and parties. Over the last few years these days and events have been vital to raise funds to keep the club open to our community, but because of the lockdown we have so far lost £77K of income from COVID-19 restrictions.
Right now Pontefract RUFC really needs YOUR support…
Due to COVID-19 our Club has had to cease all of its sporting and social activities since the beginning of March 2020, resulting in a significant financial hit. With our usual revenue streams negatively affected, we are reaching out for your support to help us move forward with various capital projects - all of which will help us continue to thrive, grow, and work with and for our members and the wider community we serve.
The income that would have been generated for the club each year is essential in keeping the club doors open, and our facilities on offer to all in our community.
It also supplements our maintenance projects to keep our club in good working order, and enables us to focus on 2-3 large improvement projects each season.
Renovation and Extension to the outside café and training area
Pitch care activities – rolling, verti draining, seeding and cutting
Automation of the Main Gates for security purposes
We identified the key to increasing the club's ongoing revenue stream in the long term, would be to sell more food and drink pitch side on weekends and at events.
It was planned to renovate the existing floodlights and develop an outside cafe area, creating a new server area for food and hot drinks to be sold from.
This new facility would also provide a safe outdoor social setting where club members and supporters can gather, as well as having potential for hire, community use and a hub for the local soup kitchen.
As these projects can no longer proceed due to all our events being cancelled, in an effort to make a real difference to our Club, we have enlisted the support of CrowdFunder to reach out to our wide community of supporters and friends through their crowdfunding website platform to raise funds for a Return from Covid Fund. We hope that our community of players, members, supporters and friends can rally together and lift the Club out of its current financial uncertainty by helping to raise the ambitious sum of £20,000 within 4 weeks.
The Projects YOU are funding?
The funds raised through this crowdfunding initiative will go towards ensuring the financial sustainability as we exit this difficult Covid-19 period.
With the halting of all sporting activities and the closure of our clubhouse, we have lost over £77,000 (to date) in income since the start of lockdown. We urgently need funds to keep basic services running and to prepare for the re-opening of our clubhouse. This includes:
- Completion of the Renovation and Extension to the outside café and training area
- Pitch care activities – rolling, verti draining, seeding and cutting
- Automation of the Main Gates for security purposes
- Essential repairs to the club's infrastructure.
- Replacement of equipment.
- A social media marketing campaign to help relaunch the club after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please let all your friends and families know about this CrowdFunder page, including the many that no longer live in our area, but who enjoyed attending and playing at the Club over the years.
Let’s show what a great sporting community Pontefract is and help the Club through this difficult time.
Why Should You Help?
It is difficult to overestimate the value of our rugby club in our community.
What seems to be merely recreational on the surface has a real effect on the lives of everyone involved. Sport improves your mood, your concentration levels and your sleeping habits. It reduces stress and depression. It has links to leadership traits and, most of all, it brings people and communities together.
We cannot be more emphatic about the last point. Many of us that are part of Pontefract RUFC will say that we are not just a rugby club, we are a family. In fact, for many of us, to be without our club would be unthinkable.
Our central catchment area attracts people from all over Yorkshire. It is a place where Public School and State School kids come together. It is a place where all are welcome: regardless of ethnicity, upbringing, gender, social status, religion or nationality.
This is made abundantly clear when you consider the diverse variety of sports teams that use out facilities.
Without Pontefract RUFC, our local community would be without:
- 3 adult male teams and plans to field a senior womens team in the near future.
- 10 youth teams, including 2 girls' teams and our newly developed and unique JET (Junior Elite Training) programme
- A 1st Team playing in the Level 7 of the National League structure.
- One of the fastest growing youth sections in Yorkshire.
- Grounds for local primary and secondary schools.
- The home of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service RUFC
- The home of various community clubs such as our local Running and Dance club to name but a few
- An established social membership of over 230 people, many of which are ex-players or the friends and families of ex-players.
- Over 60s 'Friday Gang' Social Club
There is real uncertainty with regard to how quickly we can get back to normal.
We want to ensure that when we do begin to welcome back players, spectators, club members and visitors, we are prepared with a safe and enjoyable environment for all.
What Will You Get In Return?
In recognition and appreciation of everyone that donates a minimum of £25 to our cause, we are giving you the opportunity for your name to appear on our brand new 'Board of Honour'.
This will hold a prominent position in our clubhouse, and it will memorialise all of our friends and members who have helped us through this difficult time.
As well as this, we have many great and exclusive rewards available to claim whenever you make a donation.
What should you do next?
Don't forget to spread the word! Make sure that all of your family and friends know about this site. Don't be afraid to share our effort on social media. And, most of all, please contribute (no matter how small, all donations will be really appreciated).
100% off all donations will go to our club, and our club only.
Sport England: Active Together has provided £10,000 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 29th April 2021