Aston Villa FA Cup charity fundraiser: Why are we raising money?

If you're visiting this site, you've probably seen that we are running a fundraiser in the build up to Villa's massive FA Cup final against the Gunners.

The subject of our fundraiser are the Villa Rockets Powerchair Football Club. The Rockets are a powerchair football club who organise games and field teams of people who wouldn't be able to play typical football for a variety of reasons. This helps more people get into the game we love to watch and play.

I found the Villa Rockets posting on our Facebook page asking for votes, these votes would hopefully allow them to 'win' community funding so they might be able to buy a new powerchair. Here at 7500 to Holte, we decided to go one better and raise the money ourselves. Or at least try to.

There's been times in my life where I've not been able to play football. When I was on jobseeker's allowance, I couldn't afford to spare the bus fare to training. When I was at University, I would've been stupid to spend my time on the pitch instead of in the library.

But there was always a choice involved in that. For some people, that choice isn't even there in the first place. The Villa Rockets represent those who want to get involved with football, but previously haven't had the chance or opportunity to do so.

So why do they need your cash?

The Villa Rockets rely on powerchairs to field players and even though they have 20 registered players, they only have four chairs. This means that although they meet the minimum amount of chairs to play a match, the game is significantly delayed when a substitution is made and chairs have to be switched around and that isn't even considering what happens should a chair break down or fail. This would likely mean that the Rockets might have to miss or forfeit matches and with 20 players relying on the club for their hobby, their passion, one more chair could mean the world to the club.

In all honesty, I think the club itself says it best:

I am most proud of the fact that our club gives individuals who would be otherwise be socially isolated from sport a great sporting opportunity, I am also proud these individuals experience being part of a team,competitiveness and social integration

There you have it, even if we don't hit our goal, we've done our best as a fanbase to support those who need a little bit of our help.

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Throughout the FA Cup final week, we're raising money for the Villa Rockets Powerchair Football club. With your help we can reach £5,000 and get them a new powerchair! Read about the club and our effort here, or simply click here to donate and help us reach our goal! And remember, if you donate any amount, you can enter to win a free Fabian Delph t-shirt from The Art of Football!