Who are we?
Old Ruts
Youth is the junior football section of registered charity, Old Rutlishians Association. Based in Wimbledon, our club offers sport for all to boys and girls in the local community and the wider SW London area. Our U15 team plays in Division 1 of the Epsom & Ewell Youth Football League.
Why are we crowdfunding?
The Gothia Cup, also known as the World Youth Cup, is the world’s largest youth football tournament, with nearly 2000 teams from around 80 nations participating each year.
We are extremely honoured to have been selected to attend this prestigious event, where our 17-boy squad will have the opportunity to play against some of the best youth players in the world. Some of its past participants include superstars such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Alan Shearer, Xabi Alonso, and Emmanuel Adebayor.
We are mounting a fundraising campaign to ensure the whole squad can attend, regardless of their families’ financial situation.
How we’ll spend the money raised
Our team features boys from a variety of different backgrounds and we want to ensure that financial hardship is not the reason they cannot compete in this esteemed tournament.
We are aiming to raise £10,000 to cover flights, six days' bed and board, plus the registration and participation fees for those team members whose families are less able to pay.
Community impact
As well as providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our squad, it will also be a source of huge pride for our section, our club, the schools our boys attend and our local community at large for the team to participate in this event.
The tournament garners extensive publicity around the world and however far the boys progress in the competition, their presence will put Old Rutlishians Association and Merton firmly on the map.
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!
5. Sponsor our team. We can offer a variety of sponsorship opportunities for businesses, allowing them to get coverage for their products across the globe.