Ronald Gittens, president of Royalians RFC has outlined an aggressive and multi-pronged fundraising campaign to be adopted in the New Year to meet the club's vast and continuous needs.He said while existing fundraising efforts such as the buffet luncheon at Valpark Chinese Restaurant held on Republic Day this year and the Men Who Can Cook which took place in Easter will become fixed on the Royalians calendar, they do not generate sufficient revenue to cover club expenses.Meanwhile, partnership proposals have been written and were being distributed, he said, with the hope of receiving favourable responses.The upkeep of its headquarters to satisfactory human standards was a challenge alone, he said, and he noted that things got more complicated when the time came to purchase quality uniforms.
The situation was becoming more onerous, said Gittens. He cited the crucial youth initiatives Royalians have undertaken–which were both crucial to the club, as well as national growth of the sport–for which new streams of income would be essential.Despite obvious obstacles the organisation's head has pledged his executive's commitment to ensuring top conditions for its growing compliment of athletes."The club's needs far outweigh the club's income. We are in need of playing jerseys for the men's team for the championship division, the women's team and the under-19 team. The estimated cost for these jerseys is US$5,000, plus shipping and handling" said Gittens.
He declared that insufficient cash flow would not derail the club's intent to create a space and place for the nation's youths in the promotion or good health, while moulding them into better citizens. Gittens touted Royalians' school adoption programme and lauded its youth development officer Kwanize John and the team of coaches responsible for the spread of rugby in the schools.
"We presently coach Queen's Royal College under-14 and under-16; Tranquillity Government Secondary boys under-14 and under-16; St Joseph's Convent, Holy Name Convent, Providence Girl's, St Francois Girl's and Mucurapo West. These schools do need to be supported by Royalians RFC and there is a need for greater financial assistance from us, but again resources are limited," he lamented.
Even with this cash crunch, Royalians' executive in its assessment have deemed its existing club house as inadequate and therefore was in negotiation to change its zip code from Melville Lane in Newtown, Port-of-Spain.Gittens said, "The club is growing: Seven schools in addition to the senior men's and women's (teams) and the under-19 men's team. With this growth in mind and looking forward to our future growth, we the management have entered into discussions with an established and recognised entity in T&T, whose proximity to the (Queen's Park) Savannah will be beneficial to us."If these discussions are successful, and a signed agreement is affected, Royalians RFC shall be moving into an improved and better accommodation in 2014. At this time, however, I am not able to elaborate on these proposals."