Fundraising

The Rainbow 13+ Arch Club is a registered charity and fully complies with the requirements of the Governance Code of the Charities Regulator including annual submission of our accounts showing all funding sources and expenses. Our Accounts are available for viewing on the Charities Regulator website.

The Club depends on several different sources to raise funds to support the Club and to sustain the needs of its members.
First and foremost are the contributions made by the members themselves. While all events are subsidised by the Club, each member makes a small contribution towards the cost of each weekly activity and also makes a contribution towards the cost of other events such as shows, meals and weekends away. Where parents/carers accompany the member to an event, they are required to pay for themselves so that Club funds are reserved solely to support members.

The CDYSB (City of Dublin Youth Services Board) have been and continue to be hugely supportive of the Club, not least by the provision of grants, without which the Club could not continue to operate. These grants comprise an annual grant, some activity grants and a one off equipment grant. Our annual financial accounts are submitted to the CDYSB as part of the grant application process.

Our Summer Project is a very important annual event run by the Club. It involves the provision of an expanded range of activities and events for our members through the month of July, when a lot of other Clubs/activities are discontinued for the Summer. It is also one of our most costly events and over the years we were very pleased and grateful to receive support and funding from the Croke Park Community Fund and from CDYSB.

We have some benefactors who have made generous donations toward the running of the Club: Community and Handball Centre, JMS Automotive, Fingal Gospel Choir, Tesco, ESB and Noyeks have been generous recent sponsors to our Club. Our venue for weekly activities for the last number of years has been the Community and Handball Centre, Croke Park. Without their support we would be homeless.

We aim to have one major fundraising event every year and try and structure them so that our members, as well as their parents, carers and volunteers are centrally involved. Events have included a Raffle, Race Night, Pub Quizs, Bag Packing – all of which have been very successful in providing much needed funding to the Club. Every year we receive a number of donations, mainly from parents and those related to members of the Club. We also have ‘Members Cash Jars’ that contribute to our finances. All donations are gratefully received.

Funding is the lifeblood of our Club, without adequate funds we could not provide the range of activities and events currently enjoyed by our members. Our objective is to provide these activities and events on a subsidised basis to our members, meaning that we also have a heavy reliance on other sources of funding. We are continuously seeking to diversify and expand our funding sources and would welcome any new Sponsors, with whom we would be happy to discuss how best their support can be recognised and acknowledged in a manner appropriate to them. Likewise, we are always looking for new and innovative ideas for fundraising events and any help or suggestions in this regard are, not only welcome, but absolutely essential.