After a month long public vote, the tally of 10,207 votes was enough to secure the club’s place in the top 16 in the Health and Welbeing category that will go through to the final judging to try and win one of four prizes of £25,000.

The club had thought their chance had gone due to falling outside the top two in the ‘nominated by Financial Adviser’ category but thankfully the vote tally was enough to be one of the top projects despite dropping down into the wider comeptition in a group of 740 competitors.

The next phase is providing the judges with more information about our project ‘Get Northumberland Rocketing’ that aims to expand the club’s range or work and reach across Northumberland, including the launch of Alnwick Bears in 2018.

It is a double success for rugby league with Shevington Sharks also making the finals with their Vicarage Road project, as they aim to turn a patch of land called Vicarage Road into a modern clubhouse and pitches.

The campaign of both clubs was supported by the rugby league family, with the likes of Wigan Warriors, Widnes Vikings and Leeds Rhinos promoting the projects and even the England team taking the time out of their preparations for their World Cup Quarter Final to send video messages from Australia encouraging fans to vote.

“We are as thrilled as we are shock” said Rockets Chairman, Jeff Ball. “It was an incredibly long month promoting our campaign and we really appreciate how much everyone helped us. We are just so pleased that it was all worth it and we have made it to the Finals.

We know that there is still work to do and will be preparing the next batch of information for the judges to ensure we have the best possible chance of continuing to grow rugby league in Northumberland.”