Christy Jordan Memorial Festival Sunday 29 April 2018 (rearranged from 18 March due to weather)

“The Christy Jordan Memorial Festival will give the family a chance to focus our attention on fundraising specifically for paediatric Brain Tumours as this is an area that accounts for only 1% of general cancer funding research hence targeted fundraising” The Jordan Family

Beccehamian RFC are delighted and honoured to welcome you and your club to the Inaugural Christy Jordan Memorial Mini Rugby Festival, held at Beccs over two weekends on Sunday 11 March (U10s-U11s) and Sunday 29 April 2018 (U7s-U9s), the latter rearranged from 18 March due to adverse weather.

The first weekend on 11 March, raised an outstanding £3,500 for The Brain Tumour Charity. Thank you to everyone for your kind and generous support.

We are pleased to confirm that there will be teams competing from 15 separate clubs in every age group from U7s to U11s. Clubs attending are Beccehamians, Beckenham, Bromley, Dartfordians, Old Dunstonians, Edenbridge, Gravesend, Mid Whitgiftians, Old Colfeians, Old Whitgiftians, Parkhouse, Sevenoaks, Sidcup, Warlingham and Westcombe Park.

All matches will be played in accordance with the RFU Continuum and the Referees decision will always be the final one. We also expect for all to follow the Coaches, Players and Spectators code and will be reminded of these nearer the time.

In the event of a team not having sufficient numbers to field a full team, the opposing team should reduce numbers to ensure both teams match. This will only be allowed up to a maximum reduction of two players. The same rule applies during the game should a team size reduce due to injury then the opposing side will be required to match numbers.

Happy for players from other teams to help out as well. All matches will be played in accordance with the Kent RFU New rules Continuum and the Referees decision is final. Paramount for ALL to have fun and we expect players, coaches and parents to follow the Good spectators detailed within guide within the programme.

Christy Jordan & The Brain Tumour Charity:
Christy was born on 23/5/06 and like most boys he fell in love with all sports from an early age, soccer, swimming and cross country but his first love was always rugby since joining his beloved Beccehamian’s age 5 in 2011. He truly enjoyed every minute of his time in all weathers with his dad proudly on the touch line cheering him on.

Devastatingly Christy was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour on Christmas Eve 2015 completely out of the blue and attended The Royal Marsden Hospital Sutton for a programme of treatment.

During this time much love was shown to the family and they had many fantastic days out including being chosen as the mascot for England vs Wales 6N game 2016 and also attending the England vs Ireland game. Christy was also mascot for London Irish for their St Patrick’s Day game in 2016. The family also had a visit from Chris Robshaw and Andrew Fenby at The Royal Marsden during treatment. Another unforgettable day was out at Pennyhill Hotel where we spent the whole day in the company of the England camp watching them train, had lunch and then socialised with them all with HRH Prince Harry in attendance. Christy’s second love was his football team Crystal Palace FC and he was also mascot for them and a season ticket holder with his dad for many years.

Christy sadly lost his battle with this brutal disease on 10/5/17, 2 weeks short of his 11th birthday and was buried locally in Shirley where he lived all his life.

The Christy Jordan Memorial festival will give the family, who are planning to attend with representatives from the Brain Tumour Charity over both weekends, an opportunity to focus attention on fundraising specifically for paediatric Brain Tumours as this is an area that accounts for only 1% of general cancer funding research hence the targeted fundraising for The Brain Tumour Charity. Article published by the RFU 07/03/18 can be read here.

Importantly naming this festival in CJs memory provides the chance to raise monies for the research, early diagnosis and treatment for children like Christy to enhance their quality of life which is the most precious thing so please please support us as much as you can to make a real difference to the 25 or so kids that are diagnosed with DIPG every year.

*** Fundraising Events on both weekends will include a Festival Grand Draw (to be drawn on Sunday 29th April at 1.30pm) with a 1st Prize of £200, together with lots of runners up prizes including Golf Days, Michael Kors Earrings, Beauty Treatments and an Afternoon Tea *** A Giant Tombola, a booze trolley, a barbecue and much, much more so come along and try your luck and have some fun ***

CJs team mates, whilst not playing, have decided as a mark of respect & support, to attend the festival to help with the fundraising activities, and general voluntary work required to run the event (for at least the first weekend), and supporting the younger age groups to enjoy the festival in memory of their much loved team-mate and friend.

Please support this event in Christy's memory and for an incredibly worthy cause. Any charitable donations would be gratefully received. A fantastic £7,000 has been raised since his passing, with a target to raise this to £10,000 over the festival weekends. The first weekend alone on 11 March, raised an outstanding £4,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity. Thank you to everyone for your kind and generous support.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/christyjordan

Ram Rugby
Beccs also extend our thanks to sponsors and partners Ram Rugby, for their support with these festivals, sponsoring and supplying brand new and commissioned match balls which will be used for all matches. The balls will also have Christy’s name, and will be used at future memorial festivals, for the benefit of all the players and as a fitting tribute to him. In particular, we'd like to thank our account manager Richard De Jager, for providing the special match balls. Ram rugby will also be attending over both weekends with a stall of equipment to purchase.

One minute applause at 9:55am
In memoriam, there will be an entire festival pause, and one minute applause, started and ended by a whistle prior to the games starting at 10:00am.

Registration & Timings:
The Registration desk will be open from 8.30am (which will be located either in the white control Tent or upon the Club house balcony depending on the weather). Please make sure each age group notifies us of their arrival. All players must be registered with the RFU (no registration forms required).
There will be a Coaches/Referee briefing at 9.40am and all games will commence at 10.00am.
Please ensure you gather up all your rubbish and place it within the bin-liners provided.
Please supply a referee for each team in an age group.

PARKING - IMPORTANT
There is a small amount of parking at our club. Please beware that there will be local police as well as council parking wardens who will issue tickets to any vehicles illegally parked including on grass verges. Unfortunately previous festival parking has caused traffic issues and resulted in this step being taken by the Council.

There are many nearby roads available for you to park, then walk to our club. Please respect our local residents and park legally. Recommend car sharing where possible.

Some of the roads nearby will be coned on one side to make sure local buses are able to pass. Please could we encourage car-sharing wherever possible as we are keen that this event leaves as small a carbon footprint as possible.

Entrance Fee Programme
There is a £5.00 entrance fee PER FAMILY with a programme included. Children are free. This charge goes towards the cost of providing first aid, mobile toilets, and printing the programmes and certificates for the players.

Matches and Pitch Boundaries
Each pitch will be manned by a Pitch Marshall. All pitches will also be roped off, only players and coaches are allowed on the pitch area please, all spectators to please remain behind the ropes. Aside from safety reasons, a considerable amount of money has been spent by the club on the pitches and they must be protected from avoidable footfall please. The first team and floodlight pitch will also be out of bounds all day, for everyone, this includes warming up (this will all be covered in the morning Refs briefing).

Referees
Every team is required to have a referee for group games. It is not fair for others to cover. Remember Ref’s are only human and they have volunteered their time. Respect their decision, regardless of whether you agree or not.

Behaviour
We ask that all spectators, players and coaches to behave accordingly. If any spectator, player or coach displays aggressive or unacceptable behaviour on or off the pitch they will be asked to leave and their team may be withdrawn from the festival. We adopt a zero tolerance at the club.

Refreshments
We will have hot and cold drinks facilities available from 8.30am as well as hot food. The bar at the clubhouse will be open from 12pm to toast your successes or drown your sorrows.

Photography
In accordance with the RFU best practice guidelines on taking photographic images, we will be seeking consent relating to photography/recording of players. If a parent or guardian does not want their child photographed or videoed, this must be communicated to the control tent and to the pitch marshal who will do their best to ensure this does not happen. We are pleased to announce that DE Photo have been appointed as the Professional Sports Photographers for this event.

Dogs
Dogs are permitted at Beccehamian, they please MUST be kept on a lead at all times, please clear up and dispose of any mess.

Tents/Gazebos/Rubbish
Teams are allowed to bring tents/festivals but please make sure they are a suitable distance from the pitches. Also, please ensure you gather up all your rubbish and place it in the bin-liners provided.

Please pass on the information to your coaches and parents. Finally, we wish every team enjoyment and fun on the day, and look forward to seeing some excellent games of Rugby.

GOOD LUCK
Beccehamian RFC

Updated 13:30 - 31 Aug 2019 by Daniel Kemp