We’re fundraising to replace the blocks at Prince Regent – not just for BSC, but for all the swimmers in the City.
Anyone that’s trained or competed at Prince Regent knows that the blocks are well past their sell by date. The good news is that after many years of trying, we’ll soon have new blocks. But to make that happen, we need some help
The new blocks are great news – something we’ve been seeking to address for a long long time! They’re really important for the Club: many of our swimmers have experienced ‘incidents’, but also lots of visiting Clubs have had swimmers who’ve slipped and hurt themselves – the old ones are frankly dangerous. And of course other the wider community using PR will benefit too – including the swim school and schools’ gala, and generally improving the facility for everyone.
The new blocks are current FINA competition standard – with a bigger platform, back footrest and removable backstroke ledges – and they’re custom made to fit the unusual pool deck at the Prince Regent. They’re not cheap, though – so we’re launching a crowdfunder to help.
Replacing the blocks is a collaborative effort: the Council and Freedom have agreed to buy 4 between them, and we’ve agreed to pay for the other two. The cost to us is £5k for the blocks, and we’ll also need to upgrade one of the water polo goals to use with the blocks – making a target of £7k.
We’ve already raised over £3k from kit sales, the 200 club, and (mostly) pre-Covid fundraising raffles and events. And Sussex County are generously making a contribution – which leaves us with a balance to find of £4000…
This is the link to our crowdfunder https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/brighton-swimming-club-starting-blocks-campaign
We’d be extremely grateful if you would support this campaign- however big or small your donation. Please also think about whether you have family and friends that would be willing to chip in. Also if you can help us raise funds in another way, that would be massively appreciated (all ideas welcome!).
We’re intending to approach some local businesses to look for sponsorship. If you know anyone you think may be interested, please let me know… in exchange we can offer visibility at the Prince Regent and at our Open meets.
It’s a challenging target but I’m sure that as a Club we can reach it. And we’re applying for additional Sport England grants that will help too – but to access those, we need to get the ball rolling ourselves and show we can raise some funds.
So please help if you can – tell your friends, families, work colleagues!
