Cumbrian sports and school groups will benefit from £21,972.47 worth of funding this November as the Cash for Kids Sports Challenge comes to end and the winner is announced.
The second ever Sports Challenge initiative launched in August of this year which successfully recruited 4 local groups supporting children’s disability sports and projects to support disadvantaged kids in our region.
The teams, consisting of Workington Reds Diamonds, Wigton Amateur Boxing Club, Newtown Community Primary School and Carlisle Reivers Pan Disability Football have all completed their 5 weeks intense fundraising period, in which they had to meet a target of £1,000 in order to receive match funding from Cash for Kids, and impressively raised a massive £14,472.47. Fundraising efforts included raffles, auctions, leg and eye brow waxing and themed party nights. Teams have also been involved with bag packing and running local half marathons such as the Great Cumbrian Run!
As well as each of the groups successfully hitting their match funding targets, they were also awarded Special Awards of £500 for best Teamwork, Social Media engagement, best Fundraising idea and for Second Place position.
The winners of the 2019 Sports Challenge, Workington Reds Diamonds, raised a staggering £5,586 and will also receive a further £2000 for winning the challenge and best Fundraising idea award – raising over £1,000 alone from 20 pence’s in Smarties tubes.
In second place raising £4273.03 was Newtown Community Primary School, who plan to bring further sporting activities in to their school such as boxing and gymnastics, whilst also buying new equipment and sports kits. First Runners up, Carlisle Reivers Pan Disability Football raised £3,149 and Wigton ABC exceeded their target with £1,464.44.
All of the money raised will go back to these groups to secure their future in the local community and fund vital equipment, kit and resources, allowing each of their young people to have a fair chance at becoming successful sporting superstars. A total of £21,972.47 will be distributed!
Workington Reds Diamonds Co-founder Nicola Rush commented: ‘The overall experience has been amazing. To win has been unreal and what the Sports Challenge has done is make us all pull together as a family run club to raise funds to make our dream come true. We’ll be able to make a place our Workington Reds Diamonds can call ‘home’ – the Den.’
The aim of the Cash for Kids Sports Challenge is to support groups in the area who need additional funding and will help to combat an increasing culture of grant dependency. CFM Cash for Kids have thoroughly enjoyed working with each of the four participating groups and are delighted that all of this money is going to help secure sports activities for children in less fortunate circumstances here in Cumbria.
The Cash for Kids Charity Sports and Schools Challenge will open for applications again in August 2020.