Today is the final day of voting in the Aviva Community Fund. With the club vying for a £25,000, we set ourselves the ambitious target of 10,000 votes, our winning total in 2015.

Thanks to a tremendous effort from everyone at the club, we have reached that total, a fantastic credit to the efforts of all our members and supporters.

We have enjoyed tremendous support from the RFL to promote our campaign and have even received video messages of support from the England World Cup squad in Australia on the eve of their quarter-final match against Papa New Guinea.

Twitter has been exceptionally busy, with mentions from the likes of Super League Champions, Leeds Rhinos, ex-Arsenal star, Lee Dixon and England Cricketer, Ryan Sidebottom just a few of the highlights from further afield to go alongside a concerted push from those in Cramlington and Northumberland.

Sadly, it has not been enough this year. With the voting closing today (Tuesday 21st November), our main competitors have surged ahead of us and there are three projects with totals around the 30,000 hoping to make the top two spots to get through to judging.

“I really would like to thank everyone for their efforts and patience” said Chairman, Jeff Ball.

“Across the competition, a total of 10,000 votes would be far superior to the totals of many others in the different categories, it is unprecedented to have so many projects with such high totals in one category.

It has been a challenging month, especially for those who follow the club on social media where we have been extremely visible with our promotion of the campaign and it means a lot to say that we made our target. We have learnt some lessons from this year and if we return to it in the future, will be able to go a stage further, I’m sure.”

For those who were intending to vote for the Rockets, we would ask that you use your votes for fellow rugby league club, Shevington Sharks. Currently 4th and needing to be in the top 8 to make their respective final, the Sharks are looking to build a clubhouse and would love your support.

To vote for Shevington Sharks, click here: https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-4959