Return,Reunite,Rebuild

Aim

With a little helping hand we want to move forward with our plans and continue to grow from strength to strength.

Welcome to our crowdfunding page, First and foremost we want to ensure the facilities we provide are as good as they can be, remain open and continue to thrive with the support of our members. We also want to ensure that we continue to support our community groups who provide vital physical and mental well-being services in the community...

Who we are and where we come from..

The club was originally established in the village of Horden in 1925, but four years ago we took the difficult decision to relocate to a new club house and grounds based at Eden Lane in Peterlee. We started to struggle and had become a victim our own success. With increased playing numbers, teams and a lack of scope for expansion at the Welfare Park in Horden, it meant that the move would be necessary in order to move forward and fulfill our vision. We took over what was basically a derelict building and rebuilt it, through the efforts of our members who invested countless hours of labour, supported by Peterlee Town Council and the R.F.U. The move to Peterlee came with a new fantastic friendship and ongoing support from Cllr Audrey Laing and Cllr Harry Bennett MBE, which we don't know what we would do with out.

The club house is now an excellent venue. As well as being the focal point for rugby, it is also the base of Eden Hill Peoples’ Centre. Community volunteers, supported by Groundwork Trust, a group of fantastic people who are helping to improve the lives of the residents of the Eden Hill and surrounding areas.

The effects of Covid-19 and the reasons we need to come together.... 

Rewind to the start of 2020 when everyone was in the club celebrating and excited about future plans, at no point did any of us picture where we would be today.

COVID-19 has had a massive effect on the club and in turn affected all our members and supporters in some way. From playing, sporting or the social side, we all miss it and with your help we can ensure a successful return.  As a club we are not only here for the rugby, we are now coming up to a full year of having no functions or activities in our venue. This hasn't been taken lightly. From a fully booked diary over the summer to nothing in the blink of an eye is not what any of us expected. Not only losing the external functions, we had an immediate loss of our weekly income from the bar revenue. This included matches over the weekend from our senior sides and all age grades. Gate and raffle money, which over the year accounts for a lot, was lost too. The pandemic also took away our biggest events of the year including presentations, band nights, England games and the famous Christmas party nights.
The income that these events generate for the club each year is essential in keeping the club doors open, and our facilities on offer to all in our community. Not only are we a rugby club we are also the base for the local Deaf Club, a branch of the British Legion Veterans, the local darts team and our Tuesday Good Companions group. All of the groups are massive for the local area and without them we haven't reaped the usual benefits.

Clubs like ours and so many up and down the UK rely on fixtures and functions to stay afloat and without all of this it's hitting hard.
Like many of you we are so proud of our club and the work everyone did when we moved up to Eden Park. It gives it a special place in people's hearts which we strive to grow each and every day. We boast one of the biggest junior sections around, starting from the age of 3. With 4 senior males teams, senior ladies, colts and under 18 girls we have a lot to be proud of and a lot to plan for. That being said, every year we set plans outlining what we need to stick to, to keep our club safe and practical for the hundreds that use it. But due to the impact of covid-19 our plans for 2020/2021 need some extra help.

The funds raised through this crowdfunding initiative will go towards ensuring the financial sustainability of our club during the COVID-19 crisis and coming out of the other side of it.

What the funding will help us achieve.....

Perimeter lighting - one of our big things for this year was to deal with the issue of lighting around the pitches it's a concern that a lot of people have when moving round to the 2nd field, especially on junior training nights.

Away Changing room update - both away changing rooms need work to modernise and refresh to bring them up to the standards of the new home ones.

Kit supplies - we have always tried to subsidise the cost of kit for all players, the bigger we grow the harder that is. This is something we will continue to work hard to achieve for everyone in all ages.

Training equipment - Top up and replacement of balls and equipment. With our growing numbers we are forever keeping on top of making sure we have enough equipment to use. This is especially harder given the new Covid world and the limit on sharing balls etc.

Pitch Drainage - The pitches are forever an issue especially when the weather is bad. So we want to get on top of the drainage, particularly in the main issue areas.

Covid safe - We don't know when we will be back, but the last time we had to adapt the club we incurred a lot of extra costs we didn't expect. We expect that social distancing will be in place for a while to come and adapting more things will need to happen

Ha'way the leds and lesses..

Our club is probably one of very few in the area to have the family ties like we do. Pick a current first team player and you can probably go back through the family tree to find many other players from times gone by. Or dive into the junior/mini section and find the future of the family name on the way up. With family values like this why wouldn't you want to be part of it. It's common that you come to this club for one visit and you never want to leave again. The feedback we always receive is how welcoming and friendly the whole club is and this will never change.

Our vision for the future...

We know that the health benefits that we offer, both physically and mentally, for our rugby family is something that we will never stop fighting for. We also feel that the opportunities we give our younger players will reap benefits in the future, not only for our club but for the individuals themselves and the local communities. What we offer to the people of Peterlee, Horden and the surrounding areas through rugby and community involvement is something to be proud of and forever will be our number one passion. We have big plans to grow our club house and bring more to the community area in the coming years. This is going to take a lot of hard work and commitment from our committee and volunteers but we know that we have a lot of hard workers willing to give us their all.

Message from The Committee ......
The club has made massive strides over the last few years both on and off the pitch. We have seen our player numbers increase 10 fold , our junior section now has numbers exceeding 200 week in week out. A huge thanks to our dedicated coaches from all ages - without them it would not be possible. The senior sides have seen the return of the 3rd (Spartans) team and our women's section goes from strength to strength. With training numbers continuing to grow well over 35 for Seniors on Tuesday and Thursday's and a thriving junior section the introduction of social distancing saw the fight for space on the fields begin to be a struggle. This makes our efforts to get a 3rd pitch even more crucial.
However the amazing numbers do show our success as a well driven club in the heart of the community. The plans were afoot to develop the facilities and improve training/playing environment for all. In December Peterlee Town Council kindly agreed a new lease, this will enable us to go out and source external funding to develop the club house for our players and the community in the years to come.

Unfortunately the yearly plans that we have in place took a step back when along came covid-19 and stopped us in our tracks. The crowdfunding campaign is going to be an important bridge to help us continue our improvement plans and stop any further delays we may have encountered.

With your support and help we can once again look forward to a bright and successful future.

With Thanks The Chairman and Committee

This project successfully funded on 6th April 2021