Company steps in to help rugby club after vandalism
A local business and national lender have pledged to donate £2,000 to replace goal posts which have been destroyed by mindless vandals for a second time at Long Eaton Rugby Club on West Park.
Corporate Finance, which is the main sponsor of the rugby club, will match-fund the £1,000 total donated by their lender, Together Finance, to buy new posts for the mini and junior’s pitch on West Park, which were torn down on 5th August. The incident was the second time in a year that vandals have caused damage to the club’s posts.
Paul Goodman, Managing Director of Goodman Corporate Finance, said: “As a main sponsor of Long Eaton Rugby, committed to supporting the club for at least the next five years, it is truly heart breaking to think that a huge number of minis and juniors will be unable to use the pitch due to the actions of just a few senseless vandals.
“Together are a National Specialist Commercial Lender, with a true passion for supporting local communities, so when I showed the team the photos of the damaged posts, they pledged to donate £1,000 without hesitation. As a player, coach and sponsor of Long Eaton Rugby, I couldn’t be more grateful for their support – the club is a pillar of the community, providing a safe place for hundreds of members to keep fit, socialise and have fun, so it is important that we can get the vandalised pitch up and running again as soon as possible.”
It was only 12 months ago when Paul’s 14-year-old son and fellow member of Long Eaton Rugby, Jamie Goodman, donated his entire savings to replace goal posts when they were destroyed for the first time.
Paul continued: “It is unthinkable that after all of the hard work replacing the posts last year, that people could do this for a second time. As a local business with a passion for grass roots sport, we couldn’t sit back and see children miss out on their training sessions, so we decided to match-fund Together’s donation to help raise as much as possible to get the damage fixed.”
Andrew Charnley, Head of Corporate Relationships at Together, said: ““When Paul told me about what had happened at the rugby club, I did not hesitate to offer support. As someone who knows well the value and enjoyment that local children get out of playing our fantastic sport, I could not stand by and let the children miss out. Together and I are delighted we can assist with the repairs and look forward to hearing about plenty of winning rugby in the near future. Best of luck for the season ahead.”
Christopher Brookes, Chairman at Long Eaton Rugby Club, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the support of both Together and Goodman Corporate Finance to replace our vandalised goal posts, it is truly humbling.
“After the damage caused last year, we were lucky to have received a number of generous donations and we are in total shock that this could happen to our community club again.
