Sports Court Improvement Project

Who are we?

• CRJH & SOCIAL CLUB - A SPORTS AND SOCIAL HUB FOR EVERYONE

With no pub or village shop, Carleton Rode Jubilee Hall and Social Club is at the heart of our village.

Established in 1982, by a group of hard-working volunteers it is a fantastic facility, which we continue to cherish - this year being it's 40th celebratory year! With weekly bands, social events, sports activities, food vans and more we are proud to offer fabulous local facilities for local people. We are amazingly lucky to have successfully fundraised to refurbish our existing tennis court into a fabulous floodlit 3G and currently offer walking football, cardio and youth tennis, tots rugby, multi-sports, football fun factory and a great venue for several local youth football groups. Giving our children and families a safe and affordable venue to meet, exercise and socialise.

Image: Carleton Rode Walking Football Group (Mondays 6-7pm)

• PLEASE HELP US KEEP IT SAFE AND USEABLE FOR EVERYONE

We are extremely fortunate to have this 3G facility on our doorstep and we now need to replace the existing brick wall with a modern sports fencing and improve disabled access to the court so that we can include all of our community. Unfortunately, with the increased use, the breeze block wall is beyond repair and a new replacement surround and fence is required - we also need a trod path to the court to improve all round access and essential disabled facilities.

We work hard to reach all our users via facebook, posters in and around the village, in our 6 parish magazine and leaflet drops to reach those who are not connected on social media but might need the facilities the most. We live in beautiful rural South Norfolk, but with limited transport links, rural life can be lonely and isolating for some and it affects all ages. As part of the improvements, a key priority is providing essential disabled facilities and improving the disabled access to the court to make our facilities accessible for all. We have set up links with local schools who are keen to join us for specialised limited mobility coached sessions of football and tennis - we just desperately need the basic facilities so that we can include EVERYONE. We also have a fab local LTA coach right on our doorstep and are keen to support his local coaching path (Josh Self [email protected]).

Dragons Limited Mobility Visit

In May, we hosted a visit from the Norfolk Dragons representing limited mobility groups, organised by Active Norfolk, who very kindly gave up their time to assess our site. Their feedback was invaluable and will form a large part of our planning process for the new facilities. With a few key changes we can be much more inclusive and can't wait to get going once we receive their formal appraisal of our facility - thank you Dragons! 

Image: LTA Easter junior tennis camp

Community impact

Following a difficult two years, we are keen to get our community out socialising again. We are proud of our facilities and consult our community about what events and activities they would like to see at the hall, our committee is well represented by all user groups so everyone has a voice. We offer (or can offer!!) most sports and social events, which for such a small community, is quite an achievement. Pickle ball, tennis, badminton, table tennis, darts, pool, rounders, football, tots rugby, walking football, yoga, zumba to name just a few. We also host the local pre-school and many local groups use the space to meet. A second phase is to establish a local wellbeing cafe, connecting sporting activities with the social aspect. We have a feedback section on our facebook page and a feedback box at the hall - we want to hear the views of our community. With this project, we are particularly keen to reach those with limited mobility or who are living with difficult health conditions. We welcome over 500 users each week, so we hope we are doing something right - but always welcome your ideas and feedback.

How our project will be United by Birmingham 2022?

With our home Commonwealth Games due to start in July, we thought there was no better time to bring our community together by improving our sports provision. From June, our weekly youth multisport sessions will be themed each week to a Commonwealth games sport such as rugby, hockey or netball. Get involved by picking your favourite Commonwealth Country and wearing their colours! Our mini rugby tots will also be getting involved with some mini 7s style rugby! We want you to be involved too, so please let us know if there is a sport you would like to see at the court and we will do our best to bring it to you. We will of course be showing all the Commonwealth Games coverage in our social club, so please come along and take part in celebrating our home games. Keep an eye on our facebook page for more info.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are a charity organisation and any funds we raise go straight back into the hall to fund essential running costs and ad hoc repairs. Our volunteers work tirelessly to keep improving our space and are fortunate to have been awarded several local grants to fund improvements to the derelict tennis court, upgrade the play park and kitchen, which we hope will make our space more appealing to hire and pleasant for our regular users. 

Our sports court is now in need of desperate funds to keep the space safe and useable. The increased use on the court has meant that the original breeze block wall has become unstable and needs replacing with an easily accessible sports fence and disabled access gate, trod path and basic disabled facilities to ensure everyone can access the court. We simply cannot fund this without help from our community. We also know that if we involve our community in the early stages, we have a greater chance of long-term sustainability.

How we’ll spend the money raised

To remove the existing breeze block surround, fencing and poles and replace with a new rebound board and MUGA fencing is a costly project. We also need to add in an access path to the court and disabled toilet. We simply cannot fund this with the small reserves we have. We are kindly asking our community to support the project and help us meet the costs. We continue to work hard to fundraise ourselves with various events and appeal to local grants but it is a big mountain to climb.. We have sourced several quotes from local companies and expect the project costs to be in the region of £30 - 40,000. 

Below is an image of the type of fencing we would like to install at our court. We hope to reinforce the base of the fence with a sports rebound board able to host a range of advertising for local businesses. We want to celebrate our fantastic local shops and enterprises.

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. Create a fundraiser of your own. Use the button on our page to get started. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

THANK YOU for taking the time to read about our project. We are a passionate group of volunteers keen to put the best local provisions in place for you, our local people - encouraging our community to meet, exercise and enjoy!