National Lottery

As a club, each year we decide on a a charity to fundraise for. Allowing us as a club to be give back to our local community. In doing so,  our members will feel part of a bigger team by helping others. One day, these charities could change our lives, or become a last hope for one of our family. Therefore, if we can help make a difference now then we could create a positive impact for those relying on these charities. 
Our fundraising also benefits our clubs 'access to hockey' fund which enables people from all backgrounds, to be apart of our club and enjoy the sport we all love. 

This season has been different. Ior so many people, this year has been difficult as try to navigate through a global pandemic . As a club we wanted to raise our club members spirits and also complete our fundraising campaign. So, we did what everyone is doing..we went virtual! 

Covid-19 brought the club's season to a shuddering halt, leaving players lost, matches unplayed, promotions lost and cup-finals a lifetime away. More importantly, Covid-19 was taking hold and spreading fast. Our NHS was facing unique and extremely tough challenges in these unprecedented times, Carmarthen Athletic Hockey Club wanted to thank the NHS, and more specifically the staff at Glangwili General Hospital by adding them to the charitable donation this season, alongside The Welsh Air Ambulance.

Therefore, on the week commencing May 25th, our club members aimed to 'virtually' run to all of the clubs that each team has played over the season. Covering a distance of 2062 miles in seven days. With around 40 members taking part, this equates to 10km a day. Although, some of our members were nurses, physio's, teachers, farmers and other key workers; who were carefully balancing their vital work with this fundraising challenge. We also wore specially made t-shirts for this virtual event, with 25% of these proceeds going to charity.

As a club we decided to set up a JustGiving page to raise money whilst our members took on the Club2Club challenge of running 2062 miles and raising £1000. Although, instead of the proceeds from this event being split between our initial charity and club, we chose to help out a local charity, Hywel Dda by giving them the other half of the proceeds. We exceeded  our goals for this event as we:
  - Ran 2294 Miles (Goal was 2062)
  - Raised £5050.41 (Goal was £1000)

None of this would of been possible without the help of the National Lottery. It is partially down to them that our club has expanded so much. The National Lottery invests in grassroots sports via Sport Wales funding opportunities, this has funding the development of our ladies 3rd team, our juniors and vitally the development of the mens section. Supporting the club to grow from 10 members to 100 over the last decade and more recently Be Active Wales Funding has helped us restart, helping us  to continue to help the nation to remain active, happy and motivated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They are the reason we are the #hockeyfamily we are today!