Support Converts for St. Ives Rugby

A club which has been at the heart of the St Ives community for decades is celebrating the support it has received this season.

It is an exciting time for St Ives RFC, with planned developments to improve the grounds and clubhouse, supporting players and providing better facilities for those who visit.

Aspirations include evolving the club’s sponsorship opportunities, which have been a focus over the past 12 months, attracting many new businesses to support the club and building successful corporate partnerships.

St Ives Rugby Club now welcomes over 30 sponsorship deals, from businesses throughout the town, and further afield – from St Austell and Truro to Penzance and Gweek, as well as businesses that operate throughout the county and beyond.

Russell Baragwanath, St Ives RFC Chairman explains:

“St Ives has a history of over 140 years of rugby, and the club has played an important role in the town – seeing players reach their potential, youth coming up through the club, families enjoying the social connections and our venue hosting events from christenings to weddings. Arguably everyone in the town has a connection to St Ives RFC - if you don’t play rugby for St Ives, you know someone who does!

“The Hakes have established ourselves in the senior leagues, whilst the youth section has grown its membership to unprecedented levels. Alongside developing our players and welcoming more supporters to our grounds, we have explored new sponsorship deals as well as consolidated existing ones. We are extremely grateful to the many businesses that have chosen to support us, which include Sharps Brewery, Ayr Holiday Park, Cornish Riviera Holidays, Elite Wealth Management, Douglas Cawley and Associates, Delve & Nankervis, JDS Properties & Developments Ltd, Polmanter Touring Park, Penwith College, Pilchard Press, St.Ives Self Drive Boats / St Ives Boat Rides, Florida Travel Comp, Aspects Holidays, CVC Solicitors, Cross Estates, St.Ives Boats, Blue Fin Charters, Greenmount Carpets, St.Ives Foot Care, Firecrest Fire Protection, Cornish Seal Sanctuary, St.Ives Self Storage, St.Ives Brewery, D A Giles, Cottage Boutique, Saints Funerals, Ross Care, Cornish Bakehouse, Smith Window Cleaning Services, St Ives Busses and MOT Test Centre, Southwest Laundry Services and Cornish Bakehouse.”

With corporate opportunities ranging from “match day” hospitality and pitch-side advertising boards through to gold/silver/bronze sponsorship packages, the club has an opportunity for all budgets and reciprocates with a range of excellent marketing returns such as: features on the club’s website (80k+ hits); social  media interaction with a reach of over 2500; branding within the grounds and clubhouse; acknowledgement in programmes; member communication; kit branding; announcements at matches; and press releases to the local media… to mention just a few!

Russell added: “The combined audiences of those playing and supporting rugby, added to visitors using parking at our grounds is huge. This season has been a key time for St Ives RFC to develop sponsorship opportunities, to enable our corporate partners to benefit from this significant brand exposure and awareness. With direct footfall added to the marketing and communication tools that the club has at its disposal, sponsorship opportunities with St Ives RFC are far-reaching and effective. We are excited about looking after our current sponsors whilst welcoming new ones ready for the start of next season.”

St Ives RFC also offers hospitality and networking opportunities for its sponsors and their guests including match day packages, invitations to Sponsors Open Day events and free use of the clubhouse venue.

With a Sponsors Open Day taking place last month, where business partners were invited to enjoy the last home game of the season, it was a celebration of a successful year with many sponsors in attendance commenting: “We are really pleased with our sponsorship of the club and looking forward to renewing next season.”

If you would like to find out more, visit St Ives RFC’s social media or website: https://www.stivesswrfc.co.uk/become-a-sponsor