Thanet Wanderers Rugby Club Fund

The Challenge

At the heart of every community are its sports clubs. Sport brings people together, helps with physical and mental well-being and even in these unprecedented times gives people a feeling of normality.

Thanet Wanderers are the only rugby club in Thanet, running 3 Senior men's sides on a Saturday, 2 Senior ladies sides on a Sunday and has over 300 mini and junior members participating on a Sunday morning. Not only that, but we now have a flourishing SEND programme and a Walking Rugby programmes as well. As such the club sits at the very heart of our community.

The aims of The Rugby Fund

The aim of our Rugby Development Fund is to make sure that Thanet Wanderers can continue to deliver community-based rugby to all who want to participate.

During our previous Return to Rugby campaign we were successful in achieving all of our goals. The two projects that were completed from the funds were the refurbishment of the dilapidated storage garage which through the proceeds of the Crowdfunder and input from Roe Timberframe and St Lawrence College became our Junior Pavilion and now safely houses all of the minis and junior equipment.

Secondly, our flood lights on the 2nd team pitch needed upgrading and these were updated using energy efficient LED lighting.

After the success of the initial Crowdfunder we are once again asking for you help with 3 new projects.

Project 1 - 3rd team pitch updating

For many years our 3rd team pitch has been the only completely floodlit pitch at the club. Due to its much smaller size we have never been able to hold senior rugby matches on it and so has been limited to midweek winter training and the occasional evening junior game. Once again the lights are old and in urgent need of updating. As a consequence we have decided to rotate the pitch 90 degrees and increase its size to full size and relocate and update the floodlights accordingly. This will allow us to start to move both men's and ladies senior games from the weekend to weekdays where appropriate. The updating of the lights will lessen the clubs ever increasing electricity bills and will be much more environmentally friendly. (Budget £70,000.00)

Current layout

Proposed layout

Project 2 - Internal Lift

The bar and social facilities at the club have always been situated on the top floor of the clubhouse and so access has always been limited. As we grow our membership, especially with the success of our SEND programme, it has become apparent that we need to improve the access to the facilities for those less able to navigate the stairs. This will involve internal structural changes to enable us to install a 2 person lift which will be situated next to the disabled toilets on the ground floor. (Budget £20,000.00)

Project 3 - The Heritage Trail

Not many clubs have the ability to display team photos that go back to as early as the 1920s. Despite the fire that ravaged the old clubhouse back in the 1990s these precious items of the clubs history have adorned the walls of the clubhouse for many years. To celebrate the history of the club and to illustrate some of it more momentous achievements in a lot more detail, the idea of a Heritage Trial was devised. Various lofts and sheds were raided and the most amazing pieces of club history were uncovered, many from the archives of our late Roddie Macaulay. Some of the items that he had collected dated back to the late 19th century and described the clubs inception in 1886. Below are a series of 'artists impressions' that illustrate how the Heritage Trail will look once completed. The three large exhibition panels will celebrate the very early history of the club, the refurbishment of the clubhouse after the fire, and the Intermediate Cup win of 1997. By bringing all of this history into the one place it is hoped that the members are able to gain a much better appreciation of the clubs heritage and bring some background to those amazing team photos. 

This is much the smaller of the 3 projects but one we think will enhance the experience of those using the clubhouse. (Budget £1,500.00) 

The task is a big one, with the budgets for the combined 3 in excess of £100k but we are starting with this smaller target to enable to get all 3 of these projects well underway and then look for other grants and match funding. We are hoping that this first fund raising effort, will complete the Heritage trail and go a long way to seeing the lift installation funded. 

Also this first pot of money raised will allow us to start the planning permission process for the repositioning of the floor lights on the 3rd team pitch. 

Alongside this initial fund raising effort we are currently applying for funding from the RFU, Kent Sport and Sport England to support us in our efforts.

How will we achieve the total and how you can help?

The club has already started raising funds and has held two very successful quiz nights which alone have raised over £1,000. Also, before each upcoming home game, fundraising lunches and an auction, are being organised and we have 3 intrepid members of the junior coaching contingent going off on a 38 mile sponsored walk. We are also talking to our current sponsors to ask them to join us on our fundraising journey. As these improvements will have a positive effect across the club, we have also asked all of the mini and junior age groups to come up with fundraising ideas. 

So how can you help? Well the easiest way is to simply donate, but what we are also looking for is members of our rugby community and beyond to come together and help to raise funds in anyway you see fit. Sponsored cycles, cake sales, corporate donations and raffles are some of the ways the community has helped us before and we hope you will all join together once again to help us achieve our goal.

Please support as generously as you can and help Thanet Wanderers to continue supporting our community.