Who are we?
Saint Benedict is a large and diverse 11 - 18 school in the Darley Abbey area of Derby with 1550 pupils. Pupils who attend our school come from all over the city and into the county. The school also offers a dedicated resource base for pupils with visual and physical impairments.
Many of our pupils come from the south of the city and are bused in daily. We have a higher than average proportion of pupils with special education needs and more than a third of our pupils are disadvantaged.
Saint Benedict's All Weather hockey pitch is the only one in Derby, and is the home pitch to Derby Hockey Club and University teams. Having access to such facilities as this is much needed in this area of the city in order that the local community can access it but also much needed for the pupils at Saint Benedict.
Saint Benedict has grass pitches but these do become waterlogged making them unusable for many weeks of the year. The Hockey AWP supports all sorts of games in wet weather for all pupils and the wider community - hockey, netball, football and even athletics to name but some!
Why are we crowdfunding?
We need £18k to repair and make safe the surface of the all weather pitch for the next 5 years. Sadly, Saint Benedict school cannot afford to keep this great resource alive without community support. If we hit a crowdfunding target of at least £7500 then the Sports England Movement Fund will match with £7500 contribution. We really want to be able to refurbish this fantastic resource so the whole community and school can benefit from it once again.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The money will be spent on rejuvenating the surface of the pitch and securing a five year maintenance programme. This means we will be able to keep it open and use it every day of the year. This will allow many groups and teams in the local community and beyond to benefit from it as well as the school.
Community impact
Community groups across the city and into the county will be able to use the AWP once it is rejuvenated. Access to the AWP will be available outside school hours, weekends and school holidays. It is already home to Derby Hockey and the university team but we would like to welcome more users of it. The AWP has its own changing rooms and is flood lit making it useable in the dark, winter evenings. Saint Benedict has masses of free parking and a coach park making the pitches accessible and useable to all groups and individuals who are travelling to us.
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!