English Chess Forum

That is a phrase that Stewart Reuben introduced me too many years ago to denote all the unpaid labour chess volunteers put into running the game.

Well, now it has a potential value. The Hastings & St. Leonards Club is punting for a local grant which requires us to 'match fund' the money we seek. We are told by the grant-awarding body that the volunteer time put into this project, should it come off, may be included at an equivalent monetary value of £11.09 per hour, a median wage figure they have got from I-forget-where.

Puts an entirely different slant on the worth of tonight's Club Committee meeting!

PB

Andrew Farthing (7 Feb 3:44pm) >The ECF has already lost the DCMS grant. We've been on our own in funding terms since 1 April 2011. I'm not aware that there are any pots of money available under the "Big Society" umbrella - it seems to be more of a call to arms than a dip into the public purse. The lack of recognition of chess as a sport in England has been a barrier to funding, and there's no prospect of that changing anytime soon. In practice, no one in the public sector is looking to take on new funding commitments, so even if we could break down the "sport" barrier it probably would not generate any funding in the foreseeable future.<

John McKenna (7 Feb 6:07 pm) >Thanks for your response pointing out the parlous state of funding. It's probably clutching at straws, but there seems to be some limited finance for "Big Society". From the little I know, one avenue seems to be for a volunteer to apply (perhaps in association with a community-based organisation) for financial support to carry out a job. Naturally, competition for funds is probably fierce and criteria strict but some enterprising volunteer might find a way.<

Is the funding anything to do with the "Big Society"?

And, perhaps a different name would be appropriate if the unpaid 'white economy' is to be matched by a semi-funded, semi-donated economy - the black & white economy?

Hastings & St. Leonards leading the way - hope they succeed.