Welcome to Issue 12
Good Afternoon. Welcome to a long overdue issue of the newsletter! News has been sparse with since the end of the season but is picking up now we're well into tournament season.
The next two weekends are the Hessle Rangers tournament. This year's event is a massive undertaking. Please look out on Hessle Rangers social media all week for news and info and the link to the tournament app with fixtures will go live on Friday night.
Included in the newsletter is a comprehensive update on the Bilsdon Park Development Project. We hope you appreciate the depth of the update. Please feel free to share it in your team groups. The key message is that we are nearly there but we need continued support and fundraising into next season.
See you all at the tournament. Bring plenty of water and sun cream!
Bilsdon Park Development Project Update
Hessle Rangers CIC have planning permission in place for a new pavilion (clubhouse) adjoining the existing sports hall at Bilsdon Park, Beverley Road, Hessle. The pavilion will contain changing rooms for players and officials, showers, WCs, a multi-function club-room, a working kitchen and office space. Outside social space is also planned to make the pavilion a real community asset, a club asset and a place that will help bring people together and provide the club with an income stream ongoing.
Fundraising for the project have been going on in the background for six years and has really ramped up since 2022 when the lease on the site and the planning permission for the pavilion were granted. Fundraising will continue through the 2025/26 season as some future revenue is accounted for in the project’s feasibility.
We are asked on a daily basis how the project is going so here is an update that everyone can read and share with their teams and players, past and present.
The estimated project cost currently sits at around £620,000. The project has been out to tender and we collected 6 bids, reduced to 3 for funding applications.
An application for commuted sums has been made to East Riding Of Yorkshire Council. This application, for £170,000 is public record and was published on the Hessle Matters facebook page.
A large private donation that we have been working on for several years has been agreed. This incredible donation has been a huge help in getting us close to the line.
All of the fundraising done as a club and by our individual teams as well as donations from individuals and businesses has been building in a separate account for the last six years. This amount will be the club’s contribution to the project and currently stands at £97,000.
An application to the Football Foundation for around 40% of the project cost is almost ready to go in. This has been another big undertaking from our team of volunteers but is a vital part of the overall funding.
We have also secured several smaller grants including the East Riding Of Yorkshire Charitable trust and the Co-Op community fund. We have applied for dozens and dozens of grants as part of the process, with a very low success rate for several reasons, including funders who don’t fund sports, funders who don’t fund CICs, funders who don’t fund capital projects and funders who just have other priorities.
So in summary, pending the Football Foundation application going in, and both that and the Commuted Sums applications being successful, we are just about there. We are still trying to raise another £20,000 to ensure that no concessions need to be made in the project and continue to fundraise and to apply for grants and sponsors to ensure that the finished result is as good as it can be.
The big question then – When will it start? We currently hope to start building in September and to complete during the 2025/26 season – hopefully around the club’s 50th birthday in late February.
Get your name on the wall!
As part of our fundraising for the Bilsdon Park Development Project, we have introduced a "Wall Of Thanks". Everyone who donates £50 or more through our Just Giving page has a Hessle Rangers shirt with their name and number of choice on the wall. This is currently housed in the Sports Hall but will be a permanent fixture in the foyer of the new building for all of time!
This has been great fun and people have given really generously to get their name on the wall. The Just Giving link is attached if you'd like your name on the permanent "Wall Of Thanks"!