Topaz reveal Cash for Clubs ambassadors

Stars of Irish and international rugby have been revealed as ambassadors for Topaz’s Cash for Clubs initiative, which is aiming to raise £200,000 for local community organisations.

The Cash for Clubs community initiative offers clubs across the island of Ireland the chance to win up to £8,000 in cash prizes.

Ambassadors for the promotion include current Irish rugby star Luke Fitzgerald who is joined by former Irish rugby star Alan Quinlan and current Irish rugby legend Jonathon Sexton.

All are encouraging clubs across the country to sign up and get involved.

Topaz, which has 444 forecourts across the island of Ireland, said it wanted to help clubs to raise investment to support the services and facilities they provide.

Speaking to Neighbourhood Retailer, dealer operations manager Declan Murphy said the profile of this year’s campaign ambassadors would help them deliver change at a community level.

“At the heart of this campaign is getting much-needed cash to those clubs that provide a huge contribution to their local communities,” he said.

Topaz launched Cash for Clubs in 2015, with Borrisoleigh GAA Club in County Tipperary winning the main prize of £8,000 (€10,000).

No club is too big or too small to enter, and it’s not just sports clubs either. Clubs of all kinds – from Scout troops to musical societies – can get involved by signing up online by visiting www.playorpark.co.uk/cash-for-clubs.

Players receive one token once they spend €30 (£20) or more on fuel purchases. Having linked their gametag to a chosen club, tokens will be automatically allocated to that club.

After 2000 tokens are collected, they will be automatically entered into an ‘everyone-wins’ draw.

Prizes:

• First club drawn will win £8,000
• Ten clubs thereafter will win £4,000 and
• 140 clubs after this will receive £800
• All clubs thereafter who meet the required token amount will receive £200.

Last year some 1,500 clubs across Ireland got involved, and all remain eligible for a valuable cash reward this year.

Declan explained: “All those clubs that signed up last year remain registered, and each site can choose a club in their community to support from a drop down menu on our website.”

He added that while helping to raise money for local clubs was important, it also had benefits for the business.

“The idea helps drive business and engagement for sites in the community, many of which are a big part of local life,” Declan said. “It’s important that our dealers are able to contribute to their local communities, so it is a win-win for all involved.”

Declan added that promotion of this year’s initiative would be extensive.

“The marketing will be done through Facebook, and there will be lots of materials available for our retailers and clubs to circulate online,” he said. “We will also be producing advertising in radio and the local and regional press in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.”

Speaking at the launch, meanwhile, Jonathan Sexton said it was “great to be involved” in the Cash for Clubs initiative.

“It plays a big part in giving clubs across the country that much-needed helping-hand when it comes to investment,” he said. “It’s a simple initiative but one that I feel will continue to make a big difference.”

Also speaking to Neighbourhood Retailer was MJ Tierney, Topaz’s brand manager and former All-Ireland Minor Football Championship winner with Co Laois.

As one of the brains behind the programme, MJ said the idea for the campaign was to help the Topaz network fulfil the almost impossible task of honouring frequent requests for support from local clubs of all kinds.

“You can get 20 requests a day from clubs looking for sponsorship, or help to buy jerseys,” he said. “It became very difficult to see how we could support them all en masse.

“That’s where it came from; we thought: ‘Why don’t we (along with our network of Topaz dealers) pull all our resources together?’.

“That led to the creation of a £200,000 fund, and the organisation of a promotion, so that when you receive a request, it can be directed to Cash for Clubs.”

Anyone can nominate a club by filling in the organisation’s name on a board at their local Topaz services. Cash for Clubs tokens can then be directed to the nominated club.

MJ said last year’s campaign had “surpassed all expectations”, with thousands of GAA and rugby clubs getting involved, along with hundreds of others.

Cash for Clubs’ began on Monday May 16 and runs for 12 weeks ending Sunday August 7, 2016.