Hackney White Heat Basketball Fund

Firstly, thank you for visiting this page - since I've begun fundraising I've found that there are many who preach compassion about a good cause, but few who are prepared to act on it.  So, thanks for at least getting this far!  

This is a campaign to help raise funds for Hackney White Heat basketball club, where I have been supporting as a coach for the past 18 months...During this time I have been priviliged enough to learn the trade from an extremely dedicated and committed coaching team, as well as a group of highly talented young players, many of whom have an huge amount of potential and the ability to raise their game to the highest level - provided they have the right support.

We have been suffering from funding issues since the Council withdrew financial backing for the club because the Olympics had "soaked up all of the available capital"...all in the name of growing youth sports across London to create a 'Games Legacy'!  I'm sure I don't need to point out how criminal this is,  especially for an under-priviliged borough with far less money and, therefore, less sports clubs than other London boroughs have to develop the talent of their local kids.  This funding withdrawal has left us with a gap of £10k+ that we need to fill urgently! This would be used for all areas of club maintenance: England Basketball membership / Sportshall hire /  Travel costs etc.

The club itself, White Heat, has a strong heritage across London being founded by the legendary Coach, Joe White, and has produced top-rate British professionals in the past, who have subsequently gone on to play in the pro-leagues across Europe and USA.  We have also been a key channel into the American Universities, offering our players the opportunity to play to College-level once they progress through the youth England Basketball leagues.  This is held by many of our players as the highest ambition, a means to achieve something great with their lives...for this reason alone it would be nothing short of tragic if our club was forced into downsizing or disbanding.

This club means so much to so many...so anything that you could offer to help support would be hugely appreciated by a huge number of people: the coaches, the local community and, of course, the players.

To leave you with an important truth:

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us" - Albert Schweitzer

Sincerest thanks for your help