DADSC Hits £55k Target (and sets a new one!)

[Stanza]

Dunfermline Athletic Disabled Supporters' Club (DADSC) has some excellent news for Christmas.

In an earlier post we reported that DADSC had been awarded a grant of £4000 by the Green Hall Foundation, for which we are very grateful. This takes our fund for access by disabled fans to the EEP function suites to £56,135, and we have therefore passed the £55,000 target set in 2016 to fulfil the DAFC Supporters Council remit for improving the matchday experience for disabled fans.
 
This is a remarkable achievement, especially with the difficulty of fundraising during the pandemic, but it shows the determination, creativity and generosity of Pars supporters and others in the community. Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

However, with the passage of time and current inflationary trends even more money will probably be needed for an effective solution, so DADSC will continue to raise funds for the project, with a target of an additional £20,000 (subject to new costings). 

Meantime we are already working closely with DAFC Ltd and with Pars United EEP Ltd (the stadium owners) to find a solution that meets everyone's needs. Please continue to support DADSC.

Best wishes for Christmas and for 2023. Onwards and upwards!
 

[buspasspar]

Fantastic .. well done again Stanza and to all others involved 

[Superally]

Brilliant achievement and well done to everyone involved. A huge boost for improving access to the stadium for disabled fans 👏

[the saline hill puma]

Great effort, well done all involved 

[Digs]

17 hours ago, Stanza said:

Dunfermline Athletic Disabled Supporters' Club (DADSC) has some excellent news for Christmas.

In an earlier post we reported that DADSC had been awarded a grant of £4000 by the Green Hall Foundation, for which we are very grateful. This takes our fund for access by disabled fans to the EEP function suites to £56,135, and we have therefore passed the £55,000 target set in 2016 to fulfil the DAFC Supporters Council remit for improving the matchday experience for disabled fans.
 
This is a remarkable achievement, especially with the difficulty of fundraising during the pandemic, but it shows the determination, creativity and generosity of Pars supporters and others in the community. Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

However, with the passage of time and current inflationary trends even more money will probably be needed for an effective solution, so DADSC will continue to raise funds for the project, with a target of an additional £20,000 (subject to new costings). 

Meantime we are already working closely with DAFC Ltd and with Pars United EEP Ltd (the stadium owners) to find a solution that meets everyone's needs. Please continue to support DADSC.

Best wishes for Christmas and for 2023. Onwards and upwards!
 

Great effort Stanza and I did wonder how much inflation had affected that original target vs the cost of installing the lift. 

Given how long it took to get this far, is there a danger of this target continually slipping as costs continue to rise? That's not a criticism btw, just you saying the original target was set 6/7 years ago kind of brought it home how challenging this has been.

Is there an opportunity to request help from the Centenary Lifeline, for example, to help get us closer, quicker? Surely making the entire club more inclusive is the centre of what the club, and current owners objectives, are all about? I'm not sure if they have a specific charter as to where their funds must go though?

I don't know, I'm just trying to think how we could maybe help get us closer, quicker.

[Stanza]

2 hours ago, Digs said:

Great effort Stanza and I did wonder how much inflation had affected that original target vs the cost of installing the lift. 

Given how long it took to get this far, is there a danger of this target continually slipping as costs continue to rise? That's not a criticism btw, just you saying the original target was set 6/7 years ago kind of brought it home how challenging this has been.

Is there an opportunity to request help from the Centenary Lifeline, for example, to help get us closer, quicker? Surely making the entire club more inclusive is the centre of what the club, and current owners objectives, are all about? I'm not sure if they have a specific charter as to where their funds must go though?

I don't know, I'm just trying to think how we could maybe help get us closer, quicker.

Thanks, Digs. Yes, there is always a danger of our target continually being just out of reach, although bear in mind that we were severely constrained in fundraising activity during the two years of the pandemic, otherwise we might have hit the £55k figure sooner. Although we have (provisionally) set ourselves the new target of raising a further £20k this is very much subject to new cost estimates and possibly new design solutions etc - because of the way the Main Stand is constructed there are technical and topographical problems that are challenging!  

Also, six years is a long time in football - when we started we had no idea that what was then a completely supporter-owned club would be transformed into a club where the majority shareholders were based in Germany! So we're now operating in a slightly different commercial environment with some new decision-makers and I'm optimistic that real progress can be made - maybe not tomorrow, but in an acceptable time-frame.

Re your suggestion for contributions to DADSC from elsewhere in the "Pars family", it's entirely up to these other bodies how they distribute their funds. I think the Centenary Club perhaps attracts members who want to fund the football club directly, and personally I like the idea that Pars fans can pick and choose which activity they want their money to go to, whether it's DADSC, Heritage Trust, Youth Academy, Mental Health, NW Displays etc etc - they are all deserving causes and the work done by their volunteers is superb.