Cupar’s Howe of Fife Rugby Club’s U16 group are about to embark on a series of ‘community service’ projects to help raise funds for their end of season European tour.
The boys will be working for two days with Falkland Estate over the October holidays.
They’ll also be working a full day at the Over Rankeilour Walled Garden and a full day with the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.
In total, they’ll spend around 400 hours working with the three community organisations.
Building on success
Cupar-based Howe under-16s head coach Gavin Anderson said fundraising for a short European tour in April 2023 would build on their recent Caledonian Cup win and help them move to the “next level”.
To do this, however, they needed to fundraise and were keen to attract sponsorship.
Gavin told The Courier: “2021 saw our team come back together after an 18 month break due to Covid restrictions.
“With some new additions it was clear to see that everyone had been impacted by their time away from the pitch.
“The boys pulled together as a team, trained hard and had a fantastic season which ended with them lifting the Caledonian Cup in May 2022.
“As coaches we could see the instant benefits of our weekly training resuming for the boys emotional and physical well-being.
Saltire Energy Caledonia Cup | Howe of Fife take home the U15 Boys Cup title after their win over Perthshire 🏆 Full-time score: @PerthshireRugby 14 @Howe_ofFifeRFC 21 pic.twitter.com/Z2zkqEKJ0p
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) May 1, 2022
“Moving on from our season we want to take part in a short European tour in April 2023.
“This will see the boys representing our local community in Italy.
“The tour will build on the cup win and offer the boys the experience to play rugby at a new level.
“For some this will be their first time away from home, first time abroad and we hope to build memories that will last a lifetime.”
Financial ‘big ask’
Gavin said that in these times of financial uncertainty, they understood it was a “big ask” to ask their families to fund the tour. Everyone has different home circumstances.
He said the Howe of Fife Rugby Club’s under-16 group prides itself on being inclusive to all their young people and they are striving to ensure every boy has an opportunity to take part in all experiences they can offer them.
“As a team we have instilled the values of resilience, respect and taking pride in our community,” he added.
“With this in mind we decided to raise funds for our tour in a different way and give something back.
“Over the next few months our boys will be volunteering to support the local community.
“They will be working alongside Fife Coast and Countryside conservation officers, removing tree lupin around the West Sands in St Andrews.
“They will be supporting path construction and maintenance within Falkland Estate.
“Finally, we have arranged to support the garden clearance of scrub and brambles, providing a new area for development within Over Rankeilour Walled Garden.
“We are reaching out in the hope that the local community can see the work our team is doing, the benefits the tour will have on these 40 young people and we hope, where able, we can bring in sponsors.
“We are hoping to raise £200-250 per head across a number of fundraising projects. The sponsored ‘community service’ is only one part.”
How to donate money or sponsor
The under-16s will be posting updates and photos of the work carried out on their JustGiving page.
Anyone wishing to offer financial support or sponsorship to the Howe of Fife Rugby Club under-16s can get in touch via https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/europeanrugbytour?utm_term=bDNE6AbDW
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