CAHC Winter Ball

During the first committee meeting of the season, our volunteers were busy brainstorming about new ways in which we could fundraise for our chosen charity of the season; the Welsh Air Ambulance. Initially, we agreed to continue with holding our bingo and quiz events as they both have proved popular within the club and wider community. Then, we decided that why not do something just within our club, allowing more members to get involved in the planning and simply let loose, enjoy each others company as club.

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This event was a huge success with 73 in attendance all together and a total of £1066 raised for the club and Welsh Air Ambulance. Again, we would like to highlight that the money raised for the club goes straight into our Access to Hockey Fund. This was a new approach for the club this season and will hopefully remove the potential barriers to people starting, or continuing their experience in hockey. As a club, we strive ourselves as being seen an known a hockey family. We're a community and club, who share the same passion and love for one sport, and each other. However, we are aware that some expenses can mean, some may not be able to have the full hockey experience with us. Therefore, we set up this fund. The Access to Hockey Fund is our innovative new approach to remove some of the financial barriers attached to playing our beloved sport. The fund acts as a grant pot that can be applied to by prospective existing members. There are multiple criteria for eligibility, and applications are evaluated on a case by case basis in order to ensure that our club is as accessible and equitable as possible. The 50% of funds that we gain from holding our fundraisers will go straight into this fund in the hope that more people will be able to join our clubs’ journey and progression in hockey.

Our Winter Ball was our 2nd event for the Welsh Air Ambulance and was held on Friday 17th January 2020.  A huge thank you must go to Gill Dart for being an amazing head chef and to Ann Richards for being so creative with the decorations! Also, a big thank you to our ball committee and all our young dedicated Young Ambassadors for their help throughout and amazing organisation and team work skills. The ball included a fabulously cooked 3 course meal, a disco and our former 1XI player Betsan alongside her U16 Welsh team mate, Phoebe Nott did a Q+A for us all after our meal as well as the committee holding mini quizzes and a raffle throughout the night.

The evening showed strength in numbers of the club, getting back together after having a difficult first half of the season; with no pitch and all training in venues over Carmarthenshire. This event was a new event for our club, and one that will undoubtedly be repeated. It has been said by our members that it was a great opportunity to bond with current and past players as well as, celebrate the growth and journey Carmarthen Athletic Hockey Club has been on over the last few years.

#HockeyFamily #CAHC #TogetherWeAreStronger #ServingWalesSavingLives