Back in March, AFC Rushden & Diamonds launched the “Save Our Summer” campaign in an attempt to raise the total of £25,000 to cover the necessary obligations linked to the close season, following a turbulent season both on and off the pitch.
Launched initially with our Part Owners at the Members’ Forum, before being communicated to the wider fan base and wider community, the campaign was designed to be a collaborative effort between the Board, Part Owners and the wider community and would focus on a mix of grants, donations and fundraising in an attempt to raise the required total.
At the Club’s AGM on Thursday 31st August, the results of the campaign were announced and we are pleased to communicate that the final tally amounted to £27,907.
Club Chair Rob Usher had this to say, “On behalf of the Board and the whole Club, we want to thank everybody who got involved in supporting the ‘Save Our Summer’ campaign. To all those who donated, and there were so many, and to everybody who got behind any of our fundraising events, from the golf day, to the charity tombolas, raffles and stalls we held, through to the Legends Day that eventually became the centrepiece of the campaign, we thank you so much. When we initially launched the campaign back in March, we had no idea how close we would be able to come to reaching this target, all we knew was the figure we needed to achieve to ensure we could fulfil our obligations without damaging the revenue streams that were required for building the budget for the coming year. To have reached our target and then some is truly staggering and is a testament to all those who got involved and played their part in backing the campaign. My particular thanks goes to our army of volunteers who, as always, came through and supported the Club without hesitation when we needed them.
Whilst we are right to be proud of what we have achieved over the past months, and we can afford ourselves a moment to celebrate the success, I would urge people to remember that the reason behind the target was to continue business as normal, and although it has certainly provided us the shot in the arm that we needed, now is not the time for complacency. We are not out of the woods yet, and we must all keep working hard to deliver the Club back to a place of relative security. The ‘Save our Summer’ campaign has shown that when we collaborate as a club, and as a community, we are capable of achieving great things, and if we drive that momentum and togetherness forward, we can continue to deliver the progress for our Club that we all desperately want to see.”
Full details of the breakdown of the “Save our Summer” campaign are now available to view on the Part Owners’ home page and Part Ownership for the coming season is available for as little as twenty pounds per year at afcdiamondsshop.com/partownership.asp
