Dagenham RUFC Changing Room Improvements

Started in 1991, Dagenham Rugby Club today boasts a membership of around 250, including teams for boys, girls and adults. Not to give too much of an X-Factor style sob-story but Dagenham is one of the poorest metropolitan boroughs in the country and, as such, suffers from high levels of crime, child poverty and disenfranchised youth culture. We, as a club, have worked tirelessly over the past 10 years to create a safe and readily available space for the children of the borough to play sports in a structured and progressive manner. This helps keep them off the streets and provides valuable life skills they can take into the future. The club tries to offer this for its youth section for little or no subscriptions and, as such, is heavily reliant on the generosity of sponsors, grants, the members and the local community.

We are currently in desperate need to replace our ageing showers, which are very temperamental. Sometimes we have only cold water come through, sometimes only hot, sometimes no water at all! Without getting these sorted, we may have to start to turn kids away as we will not have enough usable changing rooms to accommodate everyone.

On the 28th May this year, a fellowship of club members will be taking on a sponsored half marathon (13.6 miles) from the clubs headquarters to The Rugby Tavern in Bloomsbury, London. All money raised will be put towards getting the showers replaced and giving the changing rooms a lick of paint etc. This will enable us to continue to provide rugby for the community for many years to come. Thanks for taking the time to read our story, and thanks in advance for any donations received.