Fundraising

Fundraising is critical to the success of almost every amateur sports club in existence, as well as many professional teams too. Warrender does not currently operate a separate fundraising group/committee but does benefit from several fundraising events throughout the year.

The primary source of fundraising year on year is through running our Annual Age Group Meet for young swimmers throughout Scotland. Money received at this event from entry fees, programme adverts, door sales, raffles and tombolas is absolutely vital to the ongoing well being of the club.

We have also entered into a partnership with Lloyds TSB Scotland in the run up to the 2012 Olympics in London. Lloyds TSB Scotland are now our main sponsor and have so far given their assistance with our annual meet, and in sending twelve swimmers to the GB 2008 Olympic Trials.

List of Club Fundraising Streams

Warrender Annual Age Group Meet (March)
Warrender Annual Golf Outing (June)
Warrender Annual Dinner (November)
Warrender Annual Awards Night (December)
In addition to these regular annual events, the club also raises funds through the club championships, organising the occasional ceilidh, and special activities such as sponsored swims.
We are also extremely grateful for the various grants and donations we receive from time to time from both current and previous members, along with those who have a strong connection to the club.

Letter from the Senior Vice-President

Warrender relies on funding from parents to meet its running costs and to meet all meet entry costs. The majority of costs, around £60k per year are used to pay for pool-hire. We pay a salary to our Head Coach – one of the most respected in the UK – and pay a small salary to our Assistant Head Coach. We also pay modest stipends to the rest of our coaches to cover their expenses. The Club has to pay annual fees to the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association and to the SASA East District. These fees cover the running costs of the associations and provide insurance cover for all members.

Our parents have to pay for all the equipment and kit that the kids use and wear. The costs do mount up; it is not unreasonable for a parent, with a child at the top end of the Club, to spend around £5,000 per year on swimming. As well as putting in a lot of time ferrying their children to training sessions and to events, plus volunteering for the Club, all parents have to make substantial time and financial sacrifices to support their child.

Warrender is therefore considering various ways that it can help reduce this burden, from assisting with competition costs, to travel and accommodation expenses on away trips, and providing reduced price swimming kit for our members. The only way costs can be met is through sponsorship and fundraising. Although the Club has benefited from several donations in the past, these are being used to fund additional activities, not to reduce annual costs.

If we were to receive sponsorship we would like to put funds towards providing discounted club kit for our members. This may include bags for use at training and swimming meets (we currently do not have a club bag), swim caps for the swimmers to race in, t-shirts and fleeces. Any or all of these would help the Club’s swimmers to look better presented and consequently more professional when on Club duties.

The Club would also use some of the funds to assist competitors with their competition costs. This may take the form of assisting with race entry costs for swimmers that have qualified for the British and Scottish National Championships. Depending on the amount and numbers involved this could also include subsidising travel and accommodation costs when swimmers have to travel away from Edinburgh, e.g. when the young swimmers hire a bus to go to Duns and when swimmers travel away to competitions and training camps in Germany, Iceland or Spain. These would all be a small way of assisting parents fund their child’s sport.

Another expense that we would like to support through sponsorship is the training of potential coaches. We feel that being proactive in this area is the only way to ensure that there is continuity in coaching.

Receipt of sponsorship opens up the opportunity to apply for Sportsmatch funding from Sportscotland. Sportsmatch matches cash and in kind sponsorship from the business community and can only be used in certain criteria. The criteria include coach training and development and hire of venues for events. We would use any Sportsmatch to meet some of the costs of coach training and development.

Any sponsor would be able to place their logo on all new club kit bags, swim caps, t-shirts and fleeces. This will enable the sponsor’s name to be seen at all major UK swim meets, many swim meets at all levels throughout Scotland, as well as being seen by all parents at the Club. The sponsor’s logo would also be displayed on the front page of our website and in our monthly Newsletter. When issuing Press Releases we will ensure that the sponsor’s name is mentioned as our Prime Sponsor.

Apart from a main Club sponsor there are several other sponsorship opportunities throughout the year, some of which are noted below:

Warrender Annual Championship Meet – March/April
The Club’s annual two-day meeting is for swimmers aged 12/under and attracts entries from all across Scotland. It is not uncommon for 400-500 swimmers to take part, and of course that many swimmers also means a lot of family and friends spectating. The meet is usually held in late March/ early April, depending on when Easter.

Sponsors can advertise in our programmes - which are given to all spectators as part of the entry fee. Although there will be a separate programme for each day, any adverts placed will run in both. The prices are £100 for a Full Page (A4) advert and £50 for a Half Page advert.

For the modest cost of £10 a sponsor can have their name attributed to an event in the schedule e.g. event 302 Boys 11 years 100m Freestyle. The sponsor’s name will be listed next to that event in the programme, thus demonstrating their support to the club. In addition, the sponsor’s name will be announced by the commentators when that event is swum. It will be the sponsor’s choice which event to sponsor but obviously it is first come first served.

Club Championships – September/October
The Warrender Club Championships are held over two or three weekends in late September and early October. There are two main days of events for all Club swimmers and a further two days of long-distance events for the more experienced swimmers. As we have around 250 swimmers the event attracts many spectators - mostly parents and family from all over Edinburgh. Sponsors can advertise in our programmes - which are given to all spectators as part of the entry fee. Although there will be separate programmes for each day, any adverts placd will run in both. The prices are £100 for a Full Page (A4) advert and £50 for a Half Page advert.

For the modest cost of £10 a sponsor can have their name attributed to an event in the schedule, e.g. event 302 Boys 11 years 100m Freestyle. The sponsor’s name will be listed next to that event in the programme, thus demonstrating their support to the club. In addition, the sponsor’s name will be announced by the commentators when that event is swum. It will be the sponsor’s choice which event to sponsor but obviously it is first come first served.

Club Awards Night - December
The highlight of the Club’s social calendar is the Club’s Annual Awards Night, which is usually held on the first Saturday in December. Apart from the presentation of the Club’s Annual Awards there are games, a quiz and a disco. We are looking for sponsors to contribute to the cost of hiring a suitable venue for around 250 people, or in kind sponsorship by supplying a venue. We are also looking for a sponsor to meet the costs of the disco. The sponsor would be allowed to prominently display their logo and any wares.

If you wish to help the Club in any of these or other ways, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Bill Brash
Senior Vice President
Warrender Baths Club

AWARDS NIGHT 7 December 2007

I would like thank the following companies for donating prizes for our Annual Awards Night:
Lloyds TSB
Edinburgh Leisure
Wright Sports
Warrender Swim Centre
Clean
Optima Health Chiropractic
Henderson Logie Chartered Accountants
Paterson SA Hairdressing
Doodles Ceramic Workshop
Stagecoach
Swimshop
The Cameron family

Special thanks go to S&N PLC, for donating cash, through their Foundation, to assist meet the costs of hiring the venue and disco and the costs of running the Club Championships.

The night was a great success and we managed to break even.

Bill Brash
President