For this case study, we head to south Wales to catch up with MAN v FAT Bridgend coach Dave Quinn to find out more about their support of a local charity.
Where did the idea of an Easter Egg Drive come from?
As a community focussed club, the players in Bridgend have a huge drive and focus on giving back to our local area, with a a big effort towards at least 2 big events a year with smaller fundraisers throughout the year, to ensure we are giving back to our local community as much as possible.
The inspiration behind this drive was our clubs chosen Charity, Noah’s Ark children’s hospital, this charity has been involved in the lives of a lot of members so the players wanted to do what they could to ensure that not only the children at the hospital but also the staff all had an easter egg for Easter to put a smile on as many faces as possible.
How did you organise the donation?
The donation was organised by our Community Hero Dave Hughes alongside another player Luke Waldron. Both players worked with all captains to collate as many donations as possible from their players, the response was unreal, with multiple boxes needed and several players required to take them home before donation.
How did you get the community involved?
With regards to getting players involved, this was entirely player led, with a huge buy-in from the club, every single team got involved. I offered bonus goals to teams that donated to offer an incentive to possibly get a small number of donations, but it was not needed as the club really rallied around this drive.
What were the issues you faced?
The only issues around organising were that we were not prepared for the scale of donations – the generosity of the club meant that we didn’t think about where to store the donations on the night and how we were going to get them to Noah’s Ark, we were under prepared on that front.
How many eggs did you donate?
We ended up donating 195 eggs, this was enough for every single child, nurse and staff member with some nurses having to take some home!
What are your future plans to work with the community and for giving back?
We will soon be hosting our annual food bank drive for the homeless to end the season, we are then looking to plan a family fun day for Noah’s Ark to kick off our fundraising efforts for 2024 and beyond.
