Funding Vincent’s Club
To mark the 150th Anniversary of Vincent’s the Board of the Vincent’s Appeal Trust Company (VATC) undertook a major project – known as V150 – which aimed to give the Club a secure future and a role at the heart of Oxford Sport, befitting its traditions and membership.
The V150 Campaign ran for five years, raised over £2m and substantially delivered on its objectives:
- The premises were refurbished.
- The Club’s mission broadened with the Vincent’s Awards and Outreach schemes established on the University landscape.
- The relationship with alumni has been revitalised; strengthening the principle that it is a “club for members for life”.
- The management and governance of the Club was overhauled.
- Importantly, the ethos of the Club has been preserved for the resident members, of which more than a third are women.
Significant progress has been made and the Club’s position has been secured for the medium term, but challenges remain. Key amongst these is that a resident membership of c.150 cannot on their own finance the annual running costs of a properly managed Club premises in central Oxford. Alumni members have long assisted funding the Club’s running costs through annual gifts, and this needs to be increased. (Trading out of term is another vital source of extra revenue.)
Furthermore, the Club has been at 1A King Edward Street since 1931, which is regarded as its spiritual home. The long-term success and existence of the Club is intrinsically linked to having convenient, fit for purpose, and affordable premises in central Oxford. The current lease has 24 years to run, the landlord increases the rent every five years, and VATC requires more capital to give it property options in the future.
Vincent’s is therefore following a strategy of “continuous development,” whereby our main priority is to ensure the future of the Club for the long-term through further unrestricted income and capital donations:
- Annual gifts from alumni towards running costs so that the Club’s operations can reasonably be expected to trade at better than break-even without requiring support from the VATC Capital base. (Any annual surplus would be invested in the endowment.)
- Unrestricted capital donations so that by 2023 the Club is in a stronger financial position and has flexibility in how best to apply these funds, e.g. in case there is the need to secure premises in central Oxford for the long-term.
There is also a secondary priority, which is to raise restricted capital for the Sports Development Fund. Individuals may continue to endow and name Sports Awards, or donate towards smaller annual awards, but with the death of Sir Roger Bannister, and in consultation with his family, VATC has set out to raise c. £0.5m to endow two new “big ticket” Awards in his name.
Colin Cowdrey said he wore his Vincent’s tie with “quiet pride”. Another distinguished member who represented his country in two sports calculated his contribution on the basis of £1 for every time he wore his tie; the result was a significant capital gift to V150. Members are members for life. No subscription is charged after going down, but the ethos of the Club is that successive generations freely give to support the next.
Thank you in advance for your support. Please see below, “Ways to Give”, or click the link on the right to make an online donation to the club. Please also see the bottom of this page for the form to update your details and ensure you stay connected with the Club.