Who are we?
We are a charity run Sports Centre in the heart of Soham, Cambridgeshire, constitutionally serving Soham, Fordham, Wicken and Isleham. We have been operating for over 40 years to provide a range of different sports and activities for people of all ages and abilities. We offer a range of fitness classes, football, skating, indoor bowls, badminton, pickleball, short tennis as well as soft play for under 5’s, we even play host to a number of Roller Hockey Clubs from the local area and the England National Team.
Why are we crowdfunding?
The Sports Hall is the pinnacle of our Centre and still has the original flooring down from 41 years ago when the building was complete, we have had this refurbished a few times over the years to keep it going, however it is now time for a new one. There is never a day the sports hall is not used by the many clubs and public bookings we host, so gaining a new floor is critical to the entire community as we are the only centre for ~10 miles. We also have a secondary school on site that use the hall for badminton and other activities, so the uses for our Sports hall are endless! We expect a new floor would be in use for the next 40-50 years. this would be a long term investment for generations to come.
We have been granted funding to help towards the cost of our new floor by Sport England, however in order to be able to use this funding, we must match the amount of £7,500 through the Crowdfunder page as well as helping us hit the bigger target of the overall amount of £75,000. All of this work is to provide a safe, up to date and happy sporting environment for the entire community of Soham, Fordham, Wicken and Isleham as well as those who kindly visit us from further afield.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The money we raise will help to pay for a brand new Junckers 22mm Solid Beech floor for our main hall and the lines painted in order to continue to provide opportunity for a varied range of sports and uses for as many people as possible. This flooring is extremely hard wearing with around a 70 year lifespan so this would be a great investment for the sports centre and entire community. With the addition of a brand new hall floor, we will be able to continue to offer 5 a-side football, Roller Hockey, Family Fun Skating, Badminton, Basketball, Netball and any other activity the space is needed for. Any additional funding we receive will go straight towards the upkeep, maintenance and further enhancement of the Main Hall.
Community impact
As we are based in the centre of the Soham Community and are the only sports hall for around 10 miles, the impact a new floor would have on the community would be huge. We have groups of 5 a-side footballers that have been playing at this sports centre for nearly 40 years, another group for nearly 20 years as well as all of our other teams and clubs that have been attending their sessions in the centre for a long period of time. Not only this but the wider community too, we have clubs travel here to use the hall as well as England Roller Hockey National Training at the sports centre. We are also open to casual bookings, block bookings and the clubs that play all of their different sports, fixtures and training within the centre. While our bookings for the public are mainly evenings and weekends during the school term, the adjoining school also use our centre throughout the day time during the school term for badminton in order to offer the PE classes some variety in their teaching. During the holidays we also host Football Fun Camps for children and Roller Hockey Camps for all ages. A new hall floor really would be a boost to the current members and also an incentive for new members and groups to come and start something new.
How you can play your part
If you wish to help us bring our project in to reality and start the ball rolling on this new and modern flooring for the entire community there is a few ways you can do this!
1. Spread the word. Starting off with the simple one, simply share this page and project on your social media, talk with your friends or even put up posters in the surrounding areas. Anything is of great help and appreciated.
2. Make a donation. We would really appreciate any donation small or large from anyone reading this. We want to keep momentum so don’t delay!
3. Fundraise for us. If you wanted to run your own fundraiser for us as a registered charity, we would be most grateful for this! Anything to help get the word out and keep the momentum swinging our way is the key to success.
4. What we would do for you. We will be offering rewards if you donate a certain amount to the crowd funder once we reach our target! This could be as small as a Gym session or as large as hiring the hall out! If any companies wish to get in touch we will give you an advertisement space in the centre as well as any rewards for donating!