January 2007 Fundraising Update No 2.
Welcome to the 2nd Fundraising Update. Once again I would like to extend my thanks to those who attended the recent Fundraising Meeting on 10th January, minutes of the meeting will be available on the BU website once they have been approved by those in attendance!
Secondly, I must apologise for not producing the more in-depth report promised in my last update, unfortunately other matters became slightly more urgent! I hope that this update along with the minutes that will be published and the fundraising strategy already produced will give you all a much better idea of how would like to progress things in the coming months.
EXISTING SCHEMES
Following discussion at the last fundraising meeting, t was felt that a number although not all of the existing schemes needed some form of rejuvenation. Bee Green, Spare Change Tins and the Back the Bees Text number were particularly mentioned. I will be producing in conjunction with those that instigated the schemes, updates and revamps for each one.
NEW SCHEMES
There will be a new scheme launched on 10th February which will be entitled ‘Build a Better Future’. This scheme centres around the idea successfully run by many other clubs of a ‘wall of fame’.
Bricks can be purchased and inlaid with an inscription of your choice, they will then be displayed in a specialist framework on either the Braemar Road or New Road parts of the ground.
These bricks and their housing will be transported with us when we move to a new ground. They are not only a proven way to raise funds, successful schemes have been implemented by Reading, Crystal Palace, Coventry to name a few, but also a lasting legacy. You may want to purchase a brick to remember a loved one, to celebrate an event, or just to be part of the continued fundraising and support of Brentford Football Club.
Proceeds will go to Bees United and further details will be available at the BU website, in the BFC programme and in leaflets that will be distributed at each entrance to the ground. I also hope to publicise the launch in some of the local papers and indeed in a forthcoming Bees United email. Many many thanks to Ron Cooper who has worked extremely hard on this project for a number of months.
It is hoped that over the course of time this could prove to be a lucrative fundraiser for Bees United, realising at a minimum we hope £20000. It has been suggested that this money will be ring fenced to go towards payment of the £550,000 that Bees United needs to find by January 2009.
Another major scheme will be launched in time for the beginning of season 2007/8 and will also I hope contribute major sums of money, which will also go towards the £550,000 to be paid off in January 2009. This is a major project that is still in its planning stages and I have currently got 3 very willing volunteers helping me put it together, when I have firmer details I will publish them. In the meantime, however, the plan revolves around the ‘virtual stadium’ idea suggested at the first meeting.
This has evolved somewhat to encompass the ideas discussed at the most recent meeting. The general consensus of opinion was that we should reproduce Griffin Park and use that as the ‘virtual stadium’.
The idea as I say is in its conceptual phase, but it seems that this could be a huge project and one which will require a great deal of time, thought and effort, but I believe that the benefits will be worth it. Those volunteers that have been researching this will hope to meet shortly to discuss in depth the requirements. It may be that we need to recruit some more willing volunteers.
IDEAS AND EVENTS
The recently postponed pool tournament is to be rescheduled and I am sure will be a success. The new date is yet to be decided but is expected to be April/May time.
The next major event will be a joint venture between Bees United and BFC and will revolve around the events of 40 years ago.
There are a number of facets to this event including, I hope, a reconstruction of the walk from Brighton to Brentford (thanks to all those that have volunteered to accompany me!). The walk will I hope generate not only much needed funds for BU but also rejuvenate the profile of BFC. We would very much like to exceed the original number of walkers back in ’67 which I understand was approximately 260, with as many of those able to do so to join us on the last half mile.
The overall journey is about 53 miles and will be conducted over 2 days. We would like as many walkers as possible to join us, for as much or as little of the journey as they wish, collecting sponsorship money on the way. It is also hoped that some players past and present will be able to join us.
They too will be allowed to do as much or as little as they wish! The walk will begin on 19th May and we will be scheduled to arrive at Griffin Park exactly 40 years to the day that the other intrepid walkers arrived. Anyone who would like to join in, or who knows someone that did the original walk, please contact me at Natasha.judge@beesunited.org.uk . It is hoped that the club and BU will be able to work together to stage a gala evening with as many of the original walkers as possible in attendance.
Further details will be released over the coming weeks. The idea was suggested to me by one of the original walkers and has grown from there. For this many thanks I really think we could make a big success of this.
Some ideas have been either postponed or cancelled entirely recently, such as the Christmas Hampers, this decision was taken purely because I was informed that many people in the surrounding area had been hit hard by the collapse of Farepak and hampers would not be a popular subject. I had planned to walk from my home in Northamptonshire, along the Grand Union canal to Griffin Park, however with the Brighton walk I do not wish to saturate the same sponsors etc so that will have to be postponed to the beginning of season 2008/9. There had also been some talk of a Valentines day celebration, perhaps a disco however with the major projects described above and the re-financing deal announced yesterday, I did not unfortunately have the time to organise anything.
Which leads me very neatly onto my plea for help!! In order for fundraising to be a success, I need a large pool of volunteers to help me.
Unfortunately I can offer you no incentive other than the satisfaction of helping our great club survive and a lot of hard work. However, anyone who would like to volunteer, either with an idea of their own that they will run from start to finish or with an offer of that most precious commodity of time I would be very pleased (and grateful!) to hear from you.
There are quite a few other ideas in the pipeline and I will shortly produce a list of them with as much detail as I can provide My idea is to produce an excel spreadsheet which you will be able to download and which will be easy to comprehend!
Once again my thanks to all those volunteers that are helping me in various ways, hats off to you all.
Natasha Judge
Fundraising Director