For those of you who have competed at a regatta over the past decade, you are only too aware of the value that our well-loved tent brings us. Whether it is the heat, or rain, the tent is one of our most valued assets. A decade ago, it was also one of our best promotional items, with Richmond proudly displaying the best tent at any regatta we attended. Since then, most other clubs have followed Richmond’s lead and now have more impressive tents. And over the years, Richmond’s well-loved tent is starting to show the impact of all that love.
Richmond is a club on the go, with plans for fleet turnover and membership growth. And we need to demonstrate this to the rest of the rowing committee by attending regattas; by wining on water, and being the most impressive off-water. By having a tent which shows everyone at a regatta that we are a club to be reckoned with; a club not only with the resources to have the best, but also knows that looking after our members at a regatta is smart and provides us with the best opportunity to win on water.
But a tent like this isn’t cheap – and we don’t want to compromise of the awesomeness of a new tent. The committee has agreed that next year’s funding goal will be to replace our tent, but I don’t want to wait until the end of next season before seeing a new tent. I’m hoping that we can get a start on raising a few dollars so we can convince the club to purchase the tent sooner than later. If we can quickly raise half the cost of a new tent, then this should be enough to warrant purchasing the tent for the start of the season, with the promise that we can raise the remaining during the rest of the year.
And how can we do this? Given that we have had 75 different individuals represent Richmond over the past year, if they all made a small tax deductible donation to our Fleet Renewal Fund at the Australia Sports Foundation, then we will be well on our way. The ASF is a brilliant program which allows sporting clubs like Richmond to raise money via tax deductible donations. Richmond has been running our Fleet Renewal Appeal now for a number of years, and has been vital for the renewal of the club’s fleet in the past.
So, how about a target of 50 people donating $50 each (remember, that is Tax deductible) as a start. This will raise us $2,500 towards a new tent, which will be more than half way. We get half way, and then we can convince the club to order the new tent at the start of the season instead of the end.
So let’s do it! I’m launching the “50 x 50” Project – to goal to raise $2,500 by 30 June for Richmond to have the most impressive tent at a regatta next season! Help the club today by donating $50 at https://asf.org.au/projects/richmond-rowing-club/new-club-tent/.
Remember its tax deductible so you are welcome to donate a little more if you can!
Thank You!
Tim Evans
Head of Rowing
