At the Annual Dinner in 2017, we announced the launch of “Pitch 18” – the campaign to raise funds for replacing the carpet on our pitch in 2018.

The finances of the Sports Club as a whole meant we had to investigate a number of ways of raising the funds needed, as well as looking at different suppliers to get the best possible deal for the club.

In January 2018, a small group – Adam Drake, Jane Wilson, Graham Finding and Sue McNaughton. finally came up with a proposal which was acceptable to the Sports Club. This is the letter we have sent out to all our members, friends, parents, former players and as many “supporters” as we can come up with. If you have not received the letter and you wish to help, please read on and then contact us.

To see our current total, click here

Why are we raising the funds?

We are looking to replace the carpet in July 2018 with a brand new, modern sand-dressed pitch, much more suited to the way hockey is now played and which will allow all our teams to flourish. With both our mens and ladies top sides pushing for a place in the National League, our other sides looking to move up the East Leagues, our Junior and Veteran sides competing regularly in national competitions, and our mini-hockey section flourishing with over 50 children regularly attending every Sunday, supported by many parents and ex-players, now is the time to lay down a surface which everyone will benefit from.  Along with planned changes to our floodlights and improvements to the clubhouse, this will give us a really great place to play and watch hockey. Coupled with the other sports on offer at the Club – Tennis, Squash, Cricket and Bowls – it will only enhance our reputation as the best private multi-sports club in the East.

It will also allow us to continue to build on our legacy of offering hockey to generations of players – many of our current players were brought to the club by their parents (and in some cases grandparents!) and we are so proud of this fact. Many players who have moved away come back every year to play in the Brummitt in April which is a unique event in the hockey world, and comment how much they miss the welcoming and family-friendly atmosphere created at CoPHC.  The new surface will allow us to continue to build on this tradition. It will also offer opportunities for us to host more tournaments, to retain our own local players, develop our juniors and attract others looking for quality hockey in a family-friendly atmosphere, as well as continuing to develop coaches from inside the club.

Further, it will give us opportunities to extend our reach into the community and run more hockey for those looking for social rather than competitive games – Rush Hockey and Back to Hockey are having a great impact around the UK. We already we have a thriving Veterans section, but we want to go further and add Walking Hockey to our portfolio so become increasingly inclusive for people of all ages and abilities. We recognise both the physical and the mental benefits of keeping fit for as long as you can.

To do this we need your help. We turn to our hockey family because you understand what we need and have always supported the club in whatever way you can.  Let us be clear – every ££ will help, so please read this carefully and think if you can help. The good news is we don’t need your money right now – what we are looking for are definite pledges now to be turned into hard cash at the end of May this year.

Our Target

Put simply, our target is to raise at least £150,000 in packages of £5,000 and to secure pledges for this amount by the end of March 2018. We are offering you 3 ways to contribute

• An outright gift (which can be gift aided)
• An interest-free loan, repayable in 5 years
• A loan attracting 4% interest paid annually, also repayable in 5 years.

The loans will be unsecured and a simple legal document will be signed by both parties at outset to confirm the details and identify what would happen in the event of your death. 

You can offer us more than one package of money if you choose – for instance, 2 gifts, 1 gift and 1 loan, or 2 loans. We will cap the loans on offer at 25 x £5,000, but there is no cap on the gifts we will accept. We are looking at ways of recognising those who help us out (if they so wish) – more on that later in the year.

I can’t manage £5,000

We know that for many of you, £5,000 will not be an amount you can pledge. But we want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to feel a part of this effort, so if you can find £1,000, £100 or even £20 as a gift, then we are very happy to accept it – as we have said, every little helps! Some of you pledged money last year at the dinner and we will be in touch to check that you wish to honour that or whether you wish to do something different.

What is the minimum we have to raise?

We need to have the full amount (£150,000) pledged by the end of March, but we also need to raise at least £25,000 of the £150,000 in gifts or sponsorship to be able to ask the Finance Committee to allow the project to go ahead this summer – the more we raise in gifts / sponsorship, the less we have to raise over the next 5 years to repay the loans and the more likely we are to get the agreement to proceed.  We are in no doubt that this will mean a lot of hard work over the coming years, but also are confident that through a variety of routes such as sponsorship from local businesses, fund raising social events, community grants and the many smaller events which the hockey section runs that we will achieve our target.

How can you help?

Email Jane Wilson at [email protected] for more details and a pledge form

If you have any questions or wish to discuss other ways to contribute, please email Jane to ask.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Your PITCH 18 Fund Raising Committee

Jane Wilson    –    Adam Drake     –    Graham Finding     –   Sue McNaughton