A Place for Sport: Helping clubs to improve facilities all year round

Club: Paddle West
Total raised: £30,238

Nestled beneath Pembroke Castle is the historic Pembroke Boathouse. But neglected for years, the building has been damp, rotten, and unsafe to use. Paddle West, however, which provides water safety and paddle sport training, had a dream to turn it into changing rooms and a classroom. 

It is positioned on Pembroke Castle Pond, which offers a very sheltered water environment – ideal for introducing people of all ages to paddle sports. Through Crowdfunder and Sport Wales’ A Place for Sport scheme, which offers matchfunding, the local community has come on board to back Paddle West’s efforts. 

Director Graham Booth says: “The local community could really see our vision and joined us in creating a space where we can teach more young people about water safety. Already, we teach 1000 young people every year, but we’ve had to use tents for changing areas and for classrooms, which is rather cold in the winter. We’re now set to double the number of young people we teach with the new facilities.”

The club will now be able to operate for more months of the year, get even more young people trained up, and the town is even hoping to bring back the Pembroke Regatta, which sees the whole town coming together to race row boats, kayaks, and canoes.

Top tip: Speak to local community groups and organisations like your Town Council, who share your vision. If they’re willing to donate, make sure they do so through Crowdfunder so you can maximise match-funding.

Club: Cardiff Olympic Gymnastics in Ely, Cardiff
Total raised: £15,000

Around 500 children are welcomed through the doors at this Cardiff gymnastics club every week. But the problem for this club was outside. A rough patch of ground, overgrown and unused, was in desperate need of resurfacing so that the club could provide dedicated parking for its users and increased accessibility for wheelchair users and pushchairs. 

Based in an area of Cardiff where cost is a barrier, the club needed to keep its fees low and so turned to Crowdfunder. 

Director Joely Griffiths says: “The incentive of match-funding really inspired our fundraising team, who organised all sorts of events, including bingo nights and parties. We offered stay & play pre-school sessions for a small donation, which not only helped us reach our target but reached new people in our community.

“Now, new members have a much better first impression of the club as it looks more professional. And because parents are now finding it easier to park and to drop their children off safely, we’ve been able to retain members.”

Top tip: If you need any help, just contact the team at Crowdfunder – they helped talk us through how to set up our campaign.

Club: Clwb Golff y Bala
Total raised: £15,255

While the junior section of Clwb Golff y Bala is booming, its facilities were looking a little drab. With a busy clubhouse bursting at the seams, the juniors have been getting changed and storing equipment in an old greenkeeper’s shed. 

And with the club playing a key role in promoting golf through the medium of Welsh, giving young players a proper space felt long overdue. So, the club started Crowdfunding for a new changing and storage area. Having raised more than £15,000 – which includes match-funding of £5,600 from Sport Wales – the club is soon starting work on the new building. 

Club Secretary Alwyn Roberts says: “The building is set to have a big impact on our junior section. They’ll now have a safe, dedicated space to store their equipment. We’re installing lockers, and they’ll be able to charge their phones. We want to make it a nice environment so that we can develop the next generation of Clwb Golff y Bala members.”

The club is now set to continue working with Ysgol Godre'r Berwyn and Wales Golf to introduce more girls into the sport.

Top tip: If your club has members, you can ask them to donate part of their usual membership fee to your project. You can do this by offering a “reward” on Crowdfunder that members can claim when they donate. This helps you hit your financial target as well as the required number of unique donations needed to be eligible for match-funding.

Organisation: Newport Central Jam’e Masjid
Total raised: £30,100

A mosque in Newport has turned an overgrown outdoor space into a garden for sports, activity, and mental wellbeing.

Fenced off for years, the members of the mosque didn’t even know how much outdoor space existed. But, as soon as they discovered their secret garden, they started planning and designing an area which is now being used for fitness classes and holistic wellbeing.

Through Crowdfunder and Sport Wales, the mosque raised more than £30,000 to landscape the garden and buy outdoor fitness equipment.

Nazrul Islam is a youth worker and sports coach at NCJM. He says: “We’re not just a place of worship. Here at NCJM, we’re a community hub with a really busy youth section. Already, we’re using the garden for our youth club and men’s boxing sessions. And in the next few weeks, our women’s sessions are starting, which will be a mix of fitness and self-defence.

“The garden has reunited our community with people from across Newport and Cardiff coming to enjoy the space.”

Top tip: You don’t have to be a traditional sports club to benefit from Sport Wales’ match-funding. We didn’t realise we were eligible for the Place for Sport Fund, but as a non-profit organisation that offers sport, we received £18,000.

What is a Place for Sport?

Since 2021, Sport Wales and Crowdfunder have helped community sports clubs across Wales raise more than £1million to improve facilities or to buy ‘off-field’ equipment.

With funding and community backing, there are projects across Wales that can get more people taking part in sport and being active. Take a look to see if you could apply.

Take a look at our step-by-step guide in applying for A Place for Sport x Crowdfunder.