We are a ‘not for profit’ organisation. The income generated from membership and training fees goes to cover club essentials such as pool hire affiliation fees and insurance, and professional coaching fees. In order to keep the monthly training fees as low as possible and to achieve some other objectives we also have a three dimensional approach to raising additional funds.
Some are social events which also provide an opportunity for members to get together away from the pool, others are partner arrangements and we also look for external funding opportunities. Here’s a snapshot:
The Club Shop
The
club shop is run by Adele Thomson. There are three strands to it –
- Training equipment and team costumes & jammers: These are items that the club have in stock. Please contact Adele or speak when she is at the pool on weekends if anyone needs advice/guidance or to purchase. Any profit made from sales goes to support the club. Orders for these items can be placed directly with Adele throughout the year. We are also developing an on-line ordering system for these items which we will launch over the next few months.
- Club branded clothing: This is a new line of branded clothing available to all members. Items will be available via an on-line shop direct with our supplier – a link will be provided on our website. The shop won’t be available all the time, there will be published opening windows throughout the year. Members can go on-line during opening times and purchase direct with the supplier. Goods will be supplied 6 weeks after that particular shop window closing date. The supplier sets the price for these items but the club earn a small percentage back as credit from each sale.
- General swim accessories: We also have a partnership agreement with ProSwimwear for general non-club-branded swim costumes/jammers, equipment and accessories. The club earns a small percentage cash-back from every purchase made using the link provided on the club website. (Note: if you just go direct to ProSwimwear without using the link on our website the transaction doesn’t link to the club and we therefore don’t gain any cash back.)
Internal Fundraising
Each year we usually run the following activities for members:
- Summer BBQ and Christmas Party: Each summer and December we host, what we hope will be an evening of laughter, music, food and drink. It’s a fun event for the swimmers, coaches and parents to get together outside of the pool environment whilst raising money for the club. Each event we hold a raffle with prizes, kindly donated by parents and coaches. We also have a visit from Santa himself at the Christmas party.
- Sponsored Swim: Each year we run a sponsored swim where our swimmers do swim as many lengths as they can in 20 minutes and raise money through sponsorship. The sponsored swim is open to all swimming members and there is usually a prize for the most sponsorship raised.
- The fifty:fifty club: is a draw that members may enter for a small monthly fee. Each month a single winner receives 50 percent of the entry fees for that month and the rest goes to the club.
External Funding
To support workforce development we draw down match funding from our affiliated bodies. This contributes to the cost of maintaining a well qualified workforce as they undertake teaching, coaching and officiating qualifications. In recent years we have also been successful in securing grant funding from a range of non-sporting organisations which we have used to support the purchase of poolside equipment and the organisation of special events.
What does the fundraising support
Our membership and training fees cover the essentials like pool hire, affiliation and insurance cots and professional coaching fees. Any balances are then supplemented and made possible by our fundraising efforts. This includes things like the following:
- purchase of gala trophies
- balance of team transport costs
- supplement the cost of workforce training and development
- purchase of competitive event equipment (e.g. PA system; acoustic start system; starting blocks, flags)
- contribution to cost of workforce kit
Interested in being a sponsor or partner?
There are a number of opportunities for individuals or business to get involved. From branding on club kit or pool signage to individual event sponsorship. We are happy to work with prospective sponsors to structure an arrangement that is mutually agreeable, including in-kind arrangements. We would like to find a longer term partner who is happy to support us in our mission and share in our successes. If you are interested in talking contact us at
fundraising@lbasc.org.uk.
