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We are the university’s Athletics and Running Club, participating in challenge week to break down all of the financial barriers which come with our sport. We have all had such brilliant experiences participating in club training and events, so want to continue to encourage further growth of the club to allow current and future members to have as many accessible opportunities as possible.
UOYAC has grown significantly over the last few years, mostly due to the brilliant club atmosphere and welcoming attitudes. Whilst this is great, it comes at a cost - for example, this year's BUCS events (which are the highest level of competition for a university club) have had almost double the interest. This means double the transport and entry costs, something we want to ensure we can reimburse as much as possible. We want to do all we can to ensure there is no one who can’t attend this national event due to the financial barriers inherent to competing - which is why we need your help!
This week we will be embarrassing our committee members through a variety of challenges that get worse throughout the week. The more money we manage to raise as a club, the more difficult and extreme these challenges get! As a club we will also be engaging in ‘strava art’ where everyone can get involved to draw various shapes for 24 hours, as well as doing a parkrun takeover by volunteering and pacing at Knavesmire on Saturday 14th (come along if you are local). On top of this, we will be competing in our annual head to head with Durham AC at Friday Evensplits, hoping to retain our winning streak!
It is important for us to participate in Challenge Week so that we can help to keep the costs of participation low for as many athletes as possible. With the rapid growth in competitors within our club all the money we raise will go directly towards ensuring the competitions we provide remain either free or are at the lowest cost possible. These donations hugely impact all of our athletes through allowing everybody to be a part of the team and participate in a range of events throughout the year. Currently we offer 8 club wide events for free alongside 18 other competitions which we subsidise transport costs for. The huge amount of competition and experience for our athletes is only possible through the money we raise as a club.
We would hugely appreciate any and all donations which are made; to follow more of the action taking place throughout challenge week take a look at our instagram @uniofyorkac
The money we raise will go towards enabling free transport to all of our events for all 150 of our athletes alongside free or subsidised entry. Alongside this, the money will go towards improving training through paying for coaches, equipment, and track bookings.
Our ultimate goal is to raise more money than 2025, aiming for £3,000. This money will be focused towards subsidising transport for BUCS Outdoors (the national university event held in Cardiff this summer), Roses track and XC (a club wide event against Lancaster), and more local road races. It will also help pay for more equipment - more specifically hurdles and starting blocks which are in high demand following the significant growth in our sprinting group over the past few years. Even if we do not achieve the grand total of £3,000, the money we raise will be put towards helping all of our athletes jump, throw, or run at the level they want to be.
Allowing the club to continue growing year on year is massively helped by fundraising events such as this, and your continued involvement in the club is a brilliant testament in itself to the far reaching impact sport can have.
With your money, we will ensure a direct breakdown of financial barriers which many club members face throughout their university experience, giving them more of a chance to participate in the greatest community in York (the Athletics and Running Club). The money you are donating ensures that more students are able to create the best experiences of their lives round muddy fields, up some hills or occasionally on a smooth running track! For example, the average athletics competition costs each athlete £18 to enter, a coach to our most popular events will cost from £500 to our closest events and up to £2000 for some of our more distant events, and sometimes for weekend trips our poor students are having to pay extra for their hotel rooms. This, for many, is unaffordable which is why your money is absolutely necessary to make sure nobody is left out as a result of the frequent financial barriers.
Furthermore, through increasing training opportunities for our athletes we are able to act as a more competitive university at a range of competitions and events as athletes are better prepared. Your money would also be going towards paying our athletics coaches and track bookings which we have three times a week. As a club we are also in desperate need for more equipment such as running blocks and a range in sizes of hurdles. Allowing our students to train and practice with better equipment is absolutely necessary for being able to compete against the other universities at a national level.
Below are some of the challenges we will complete as part of the week:
We will have committee members doing daily Instagram takeovers throughout the week to keep you updated on everything which is going on and how much we have raised. Follow us @uniofyorkac
We would love you to donate as much or as little as you are able and any donations are hugely appreciated. Your donation could also help us unlock fundraising challenges which will help us reach our goal even faster (you can see these on the challenges page).
If you are looking to support an individual athlete or challenge please put a message with your donation saying who!
Alternatively, if you are unable to donate then please do spread the word by signing up as a Challenge Week ambassador for our club, and sharing our social media posts to your own socials so as many people as possible can read about our efforts!