Grassroots sports teams in Hull and East Yorkshire are receiving vital funding from Cloud services provider Giacom.
Giacom is already a sponsor of Hull City Football Club and has now extended its commitment to sport with donations to a series of community clubs and teams.
Giacom invited staff to nominate sports teams to receive funding and each recipient has a personal connection to a member of the team at the Cloud specialist.
Teams to benefit from the funding include Hessle Rangers Girls U13s football team, Hull Knights Ice Hockey and Kingston Boxing Club in Hull.
Tom Buil, Lead Software Developer at Giacom, has a daughter playing for Hessle Rangers Girls U13s and Giacom’s support has enabled the club to own their own kit, complete with company branding.
Tom said: “For the team to have their own branded kit is really special and I know it will mean so much to all the players.
“Grassroots sport plays such an important role in the lives of so many young people and I’m really pleased that Giacom values the positive impact it can have.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the team gets on in the upcoming season, wearing their brand new Giacom kit, and I wish them the best of luck.”
Giacom is in the same group of companies as Digital Wholesale Solutions (DWS) and Union Street and a total of 11 teams and clubs will benefit from the funding, having been nominated by employees of the businesses.
Recipients of the funding in Yorkshire are:
- Hessle Rangers Girls U13s football team.
- Hull Knights Ice Hockey.
- Kingston Boxing Club.
- Hedon Rangers Blues U6s football team.
- South Yorkshire Referees.
These clubs outside Yorkshire are also receiving funding:
- Whitley Bay FC U11s football team, based in Tyne & Wear.
- Hapton Football Club, in Lancashire.
- Leigh Ramblers White and Leigh Rockets football teams, based in Southend, Essex.
- Winchcombe Youth Town U13s football team, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
- Culcheth Eagles Rugby League, who play in Warrington.
- Horwich St Mary’s football team, who play in Lancashire.
Rhiannon Beeson, Chief Marketing Officer at Giacom and DWS, said: “To reinforce our commitment to local communities and to making Giacom and DWS a great place to work, we wanted to do something which gave members of our teams the opportunity to nominate causes which had a personal connection to them.
“We’ve previously done similar things at a regional level, but this is the first time the initiative has been rolled out across our wider community.
“Through our ongoing sponsorship of Hull City, we’ve seen first-hand how important sport can be, not just to those playing, but also to families and the community. We wanted to extend this to a wider range of grassroots sports.
“It’s been brilliant to see so many of our colleagues nominate clubs and teams to receive funding. On behalf of Giacom and DWS, I’d like to wish all of the teams we’re supporting the best of luck.”
Culcheth Eagles Rugby League is based in Warrington, and operates a number of teams including U11s Girls, U13s Girls, U14s Girls and U16s Girls. The funding means the girls’ teams will play in their own jerseys for the first time.
Claire Chambers, Talent & Recruitment Partner at DWS, has a goddaughter who plays at Culcheth Eagles.
She said: “For the girls to play in their very own kit will mean so much to them. Rugby is still a hugely under-represented sport for girls at school and, until now, the team has gratefully received kits passed down from the boys.
“The girls have such a fighting spirit and spend most of their weekend travelling to matches, training and competing. To have a company like DWS backing them and cheering them on will give them such a huge boost.
“I’d like to say thank you on behalf of everyone at Culcheth Eagles and here’s to a successful season for all of the teams.”
Giacom has sponsored Hull City since 2020, including two seasons as Principal Partner with the company’s brand on the front of the team’s shirts. In June, it was announced Giacom would be Hull City’s new training wear sponsor.
Giacom’s East Yorkshire office is at Priory Park in Hull. The company provides Cloud services to IT companies which support thousands of businesses across the UK.
In 2020, Giacom, Digital Wholesale Solutions (DWS) and Union Street became part of the same group, bringing together Cloud software, Cloud billing and telecoms solutions.