I'm the Club President of Redruth Albany RFC, and I'm asking for your help in raising £10,000 for the club.

In 2020, just before Covid, we appointed someone we felt was trustworthy, to take on the position of Treasurer. The daughter of Club stalwarts, growing up around the club and part of the Albany family. As an adult she gained some finance qualifications, and offered to help manage this side of the club.

Unfortunately, she and her (now ex) husband , took advantage of the chaos of the pandemic, to change banking arrangements and apply for cards on the club account.

All told, over £20,000 in cash was stolen from the club, and the stock drunk dry in illegal parties. It was only through the dogged oversight of Trustees, that the fraud was uncovered.

For over 4 years the club waited for a Police investigation to conclude and a trial date to be set. During this time, essential repairs were delayed, the Rugby team endured 2 years of cold showers ( fine in August, not so much in January🥶!), and management having to decide whether we could afford to chill our beer and turn the lights on. Without the continued support from our Darts teams, it was doubtful whether we could open most weeks.

Indeed, without the support of players (Rugby and Darts) and volunteers, we would have folded.

On 04Jul25, Katie and Darren Curgenven were convicted in Court for their crimes (https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/fraudsters-stole-over-20000-small-10321197?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar) but the Club is also under sentence. To date, none of the money has been returned. Our training equipment is held together by tape, and without a generous loan from Cornwall RFU, we would still be showering in cold water.

We are asking for your support to help us pay for essential repairs to the clubhouse, which if unaddressed, place the club in danger of closure.

All of your generous donations will go towards maintaining the historic building, that is our clubhouse, a former mining bank, and previous seat of Redruth Council.

Anything left will be put towards supllementing the training equipment we still have in one piece!

Anything you give will be of help; if you can't afford to contribute financially, then please share and spread the word.

If you'd like to support by strapping on some boots, or cheering on the sideline, get in touch, we'd love to welcome you into our community.

Redruth Albany RFC