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‘We’ve missed out on Aviva £10k, but we’re progressing’

‘We’ve missed out on Aviva £10k, but we’re progressing’

Charlie Walker17 Jan 2018 - 08:09
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https://www.beestonfc.co.uk/ne

Beeston FC in good shape despite Aviva disappointment

The Aviva campaign showed what we are capable of
- Leroy Payne

Beeston FC has not been successful in its bid for a grant of £10,000 from the Aviva Community Fund.

However, volunteer parents who run the club’s fundraising activities and committee members say Beeston FC is in good shape.

Money has already been raised and in the bank from initial fundraising schemes and other opportunities have been identifies, which it is hoped will fill the gap left by Aviva.

The next event is the Beeston FC Race Night on February 3. Please buy a ticket and support us.

“We’ve missed out on the Aviva £10k,” said Leroy Payne. “But we’re progressing.

“There is a really good feel around the club. We have a quite a few parents involved in fundraising (but we’d like more), nearly all our parents and members of their families voted in the Aviva campaign, we have felt the support of the wider community who voted for us too, we have a better website, we’re active on social media, we are thinking about developing the club further. All that has come out of the Aviva campaign, which got everyone involved and energised.

“We are disappointed that we didn’t get the money, but we’re really proud of the campaign and how everyone got behind it. We have shown what we are capable of and loads of good things have come out of it.”

The club’s campaign attracted more than 5,000 votes, one of the highest figures in the competition and higher than some winners, but our project was not selected from the short list by the panel of Aviva judges.

Parents met on Tuesday January 16 - the day the Aviva decision was announced - to discuss the next steps. The Aviva grant would have paid for new fencing and steel doors on the storage shed to allow funding for other equipment, as well as installing toilets.

A FA small grant scheme has been identified for the fence and doors and an application will be made. Parents have sorted the toilets.

Aviva has donated £500 for the club in recognition of our efforts during the community fund campaign and parent volunteers and players from the u10s and u11s, who braved sleet and cold pre-Christmas, raised £600 in the Beeston Round Table Santa Sleigh collection.

The club’s objective now is to raise £6,000 to resupply the pavilion with electricity, which will allow us to commission work to improve it and start using it.

Further local grants to the value of £2,500 have been identified and applications are being prepared.

Meanwhile, the club’s first fundraising event of the year, the Race Night, is on Saturday February 3. Please buy a ticket.

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