Worthing Community Chest funding has made a huge difference to D & D Basketball Club. We now have over 100 members ranging from ages 6+ to 18 and the challenge that presents is finding the facilities to train in and in which to hold our fixtures. This year the club has entered teams into each of the six age groups in the Sussex league and owing to the popularity in the under 16 age group which is normally a very difficult age group to attract youngsters, we have entered two teams into this category.
Whilst this is great for the club, it also means that we have had to increase our training sessions from two evenings to three in order to provide a safe environment for the youngsters while training. We also have to have a facility on another evening in which to hold our fixtures. Whilst both the schools which we use, Chatsmore High School and St Andrews High School are very helpful to us the cost of hiring the facilities this cost is a huge outlay for the club. We try very hard to keep the costs as low as possible for our members in order that we are able to be available to everybody, offering help to those who find it difficult to meet the subscriptions. The help which the Community Chest has offered is a great benefit to the club which is run entirely by volunteers who give up their time to make the club a success, not gauged by whether we win or not (thought that is a bonus!), but by the enthusiasm of all the youngsters and the fun they have when playing basketball and the friendships which they make