Wigan RUFC Covid-19 Recovery Crowd Funder

Aim

COVID-19 brought a 6 month halt to income at this historic community club stalling our essential club maintenance programme. Please Help.

WHAT ARE WE ALL ABOUT?

Wigan Rugby Union Football Club is a long-standing amateur sports club supporting grass roots Rugby Union in the town of Wigan, an area with extremely high levels of deprivation and consequently high levels of health inequalities.  The club is here to support our local community through:

• Improving health and wellbeing
• Creating active communities 
• Championing inclusion and diversity
• Promoting the core values of Rugby Union
• Offering opportunity for all

Founded in 1913, the club moved into its current ground, the Douglas Valley, in the 1960’s. Here, it has established a reputation as an outstanding community rugby club, supporting our local communities. With a strong emphasis on participation the club has a growing membership in excess of 300.

The club currently has two senior teams playing in the ADM Lancashire Leagues with the 1st team competing in the Premier Division.  In addition, there is an ad-hock casuals’ team (for older players) and a senior Colts (U18’s) team

Wigan RUFC have 10 mini and junior teams ranging from 5-year olds through to Under 16’s, recently winning the National Mini and Junior Section of the Year at the National Rugby Awards. We are very proud that the vast majority of the current 1st XV squad came through the junior set up at the club, following in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents.

The club offer outstanding social, health and wellbeing facilities including a fitness centre, open daily to the wider Wigan community. These facilities provide a valuable asset in a rural location starved of easy access to community facilities.

As a club we pride ourselves on inclusion and have invested heavily in  ensuring that everyone is treated equally and fairly and that everyone has access to sport in a manner that is relevant and appropriate to them. As a club we are continuing to work to improve disability access and are working hard to offer playing opportunities for female rugby. The club opens its facilities to be shared by the local archery club alongside supporting our local rugby league communities with opportunities to utilise the facility. We regularly invite schools to host events such as school sports days and other sports activities at the club. Therefore the impact of Covid-19 closure is felt far wider than just Wigan RUFC.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT NOW MORE THAN EVER

Today we find our doors shut, our revenue stopped for at least 6 months and still no idea when we can open for business again. This interruption in income seriously jeopardises the planned club and grounds maintenance which had been scheduled for the coming months. We are therefore  calling on our local community, club members, supporters, our local residents and businesses to try and help get us through this crisis and get us back on track. 

The club is entirely run by an army of volunteers. These volunteers deliver over 2000 hours per year in volunteer time, maintaining the facilities, delivering community and social events, running the bar and kitchens, coaching, safeguarding and child protection, managing fixtures and training schedules, memberships, the club’s finances, governance and grant applications to name but a few.

Whilst the generosity of volunteers keeps the club running, maintenance and development costs money. To cover these costs, the club is largely reliant on sponsorship, match-day revenue and social functions for finance. This investment came to an abrupt halt in mid-March with the Covid-19 outbreak with the facilities forced to close – literally overnight - with no return to rugby and no functions allowed in the foreseeable future. While still financially sound, the club income will continue to be adversely affected, with potentially significant impact on our development plans and cashflow projections.

WHAT WILL WE DO WITH YOUR SUPPORT

At the time of going into lockdown the club were in the process of identifying investment to upgrade the club driveway and carpark. Those that know it will appreciate the effects that the poor condition of our main driveway has on visitors to the club with the impacts felt more greatly by older visitors and those with disabilities. In particular, whilst we have invested in a disabled lift, negotiating the potholes to access the lift is a significant barrier.

Closure of the club due to the pandemic and the subsequent lack of maintenance has led to a deterioration in the condition of the driveway and carpark.

Further, the significant reduction in our income has seriously jeopardised our facility upgrades and pitch side maintenance,  including access to and from the recently installed new changing cabins at the side of the club that requires artificial matting and step access

The continuation of our facility improvements are critical if we are to continue growing the mini and junior section and establishing new playing opportunities for females.

Any pledges received will be used to get this all this work, back on track. So please make a pledge and 'past it on!

RECOGNISING YOUR SUPPORT

Aside from the reward you will obtain when pledging money, you will get a warm fuzzy feeling, knowing that you have contributed to maintaining this historic community asset and ensuring we can survive the effects of this pandemic. If you leave your name when pledging your support we will credit you in an article within the first team match day programme on resumption of the new season.

All the companies taking up the pledges to sponsor will have their company logo featured on the sponsors page of the club website and in a sponsors article in the first team match day programme. Additionally we will feature your company heavily in the clubs social media channels. Your company logo will also feature on a planned 'Club Sponsors' board which will be placed within the clubhouse in recognition of your valued support for the club.

Wigan RUFC would like to thank to the following companies for generously donating gifts and services to support our crowdfunding efforts and in return we urge our members to support these local business' who, like us have been heavily hit by the Covid pandemic.

If you can offering additional rewards to help the cause please email [email protected] and he will add them to the page.

This project successfully funded on 7th September 2020