RVT / GMFA Sports Day
GMFA and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern are pleased to announce that the 2009 RVT Sports Day will take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 31 August.
Registration is now open, and we are inviting teams of 5 to come along and join in the Gay Sports Day and help raise some vital money for three great causes at the same time.
To get a flavour of what Sports Day is all about, and to see what you'd be missing if you didn't join in this year, here's a video from last year's event:
This year's event promises to be bigger and better than last year. Expect more fun, frolics and frivolity with events such as the drag relay, the handbag throw and the fabulous 50m mince! But that's not all – there will be plenty of surprises in store as well but we're not giving anything away - you'll just have to enter a team and wait and see!
There will once again be a trophy for the winning team and also for the team that manages to raise the most money. Last year the event was won by the fabulous 'Sodomites', and the top fundraisers were 'Mighty Metamorphic Zebras', who managed to raise over £1,000 for GMFA, Vauxhall City Farm and the Friends of Spring Gardens. But we want you to prove to us that you can do even better!
Places for teams will be strictly limited to the numbers allowed by the local council, so entry will be on a first come first served basis. To make sure your team enters the event please register as soon as possible and, of course, let us at GMFA know you’ve entered. You can find details about how to register later on this page.
Enter your team today!
To enter the event, all we ask is that you try to get as many people as possible to dig deep and sponsor you for taking part.
Sponsorship couldn't be easier – simply follow the instructions later on this page to set up an online fundraising page for your team. Then all you need to do is to email the link to your fundraising page to anyone who you think you can get to sponsor you. All the money you raise will come directly to GMFA. What's more, any UK tax payer that sponsors you can claim gift aid on their donation, meaning another 28% will be added to your donation from the taxman at no extra cost to your sponsor.
The total money raised will then be split in the following way: 70% of the money raised will go to GMFA, 20% to Vauxhall City Farm and 10% to the Friends of Spring Gardens.
Registration instructions
Here's what you need to do to set up the fundraising page for your team.
Please note: places are limited so if you are registering and setting up a fundraising page please email tim.molloy@gmfa.org.uk to let us know. We will get back to you to confirm your place.
- Go to www.justgiving.com/gmfa
- Under 'Raise Money' click on 'Make your page'
- If you have used Just Giving before and therefore have an account with them, login with your email address and password, otherwise register with your details and click on 'Create account'
- Choose 'An organised event'
- Choose 'RVT/GMFA Gay Sports Day'
- From there follow the on-screen instructions to create your fundraising page. You will be asked to specify the URL (web address) you want to use for your team page that you can then email to everyone you know to ask them to visit and sponsor you online (it will be in the format www.justgiving.com/your_team_name).
- When creating your page you can upload any picture you want to use and set your
fundraising target. You can also personalise your message on your page. To make sure that
everyone that sponsors you knows exactly where their money will be going, please make sure you
include the following words in your personalised message:
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern Sports Day is supporting three worthwhile causes:
70% of the money raised will go to gay men's health charity, GMFA, to help them continue their valuable work towards improving the gay men's health through HIV and sexual health awareness interventions, smoking cessation courses, a bi-monthly magazine and online resources at www.gmfa.org.uk.
20% of the money raised will go to Vauxhall City Farm which was transformed from derelict land in 1977 by volunteers into the working farm we see today.
10% of the money raised will go towards the Friends of Spring Gardens to help the upkeep of the land which is hosting the Sports Day. - Once your page is set up and ready, please email tim.molloy@gmfa.org.uk to let us know it's done and what URL you have specified. We will get back to you to confirm your place.
- Once your place is confirmed you can go ahead and email the URL of your page to everyone you know to ask them to sponsor you online. The service is the most trusted online fundraising service and is totally safe and secure so anyone who sponsors you won't need to worry about entering card details online.
The day promises to be great fun and in joining in you will be helping to ensure that GMFA can continue its vital work for gay men's health.
We hope to see you there!
Previous years
GMFA's Sports Day 2008
At roughly the same time as the triumphant 2008 British Olympic team was touching down at Heathrow, some other highly trained (albeit, more flamboyantly dressed) athletes at the RVT & GMFA Sports Day kept sport, admittedly not of an Olympian standard, firmly on the agenda. Few other sporting events see Bears facing off against Fairies, or Trashbags challenging admirers of Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq. The Bank Holiday Monday Gay Sports Day, which culminated in sporting triumph for a team of Sodomites, was back on in Spring Gardens, behind the Royal Vauxhall Tavern; bigger and better than ever before.
At first the clouds threatened but an enthusiastic crowd of around 500 gay men and friends arrived to enjoy the spectacle and, with the rain holding off and glorious sunshine arriving by the end of the day, the event was pronounced a 'fabulous' success.
The Sports Day, hosted for a second year by Timberlina, began with an official opening by Angie Meader, Mayor of Lambeth, who threw a golden handbag into the crowd to get the afternoon underway. Twelve exotically monikered teams of gay men, lesbians, bears, fairies and friends competed in the hope of lifting the prestigious Sports Day cup.
The sporting competition was closely fought. The events once again included a mixture of traditional school sports day events, such as egg and spoon and sack races, alongside more esoteric sports, such as the drag relay and the 50m mince, which required contestants to wear 'ankle cuffs' and keep one hand on their hips. A very tight competition saw the Sodomites finally see off the challenge from the London Raiders softball team in the final event.
Congratulations to all of the teams involved for their sports-personship, and a special mention to the 'wooden spooners' from the Fantastic Fairies and Trashbags for so gallantly achieving 'nul points' by the end of the day. A huge thank you to the RVT for supporting us, to the GMFA volunteers who worked so hard on the day and to the crowds that braved the grey skies, cheered the teams and donated money.
For the second year in a row, Sports Day was a fundraising event for GMFA, Vauxhall City Farm and the Friends of Spring Gardens. The Mighty Metamorphic Zebras collected the trophy and certificates for the team that raised the most money overall with a total of nearly £1,000. Altogether more than £4,000 was raised to be split between the three charities, three times as much money as was raised at last year's event.
Sports Day was made possible through months of preparation and hard work by GMFA and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and with the support of Spring Gardens, Lambeth Council and the Metropolitan Police.
Sports Day 2007
Sports Day 2007 took place on Monday August 27th in Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. This was the first year of the Sports Day revival.
Over £1,200 was raised and split between GMFA, Vauxhall City Farm and the Friends of Spring Gardens. The winning team were Dried up Drags and the top fundraisers were St. Edna.
The video from Sports Day 2007 can be viewed below:
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