We hope you will indulge us with a slightly different topic for this month’s article. We are taking a detour from the usual topics around driving because we are proud to say that we are now official sponsors of Ilford Football Club (Ilford FC). What makes us do that and why does it matter to our readers? We are glad you asked…
CVS Van Hire is a family business and was founded in 1961 by our grandfather, Des Frost. The business was commercial van sales – hire came later – and he built the company up from scratch over the next two decades. The business site was one that he bought on White Hart Lane in Tottenham, North London; in fact, it is the same site that we are still operating from today. When it came time to retire, he handed the business down to his sons Paul and Stephen who saw that things had to change in the late 1980s as the recession hit. This was when they expanded the business to include van hire and maintenance as well as sales. Paul’s sons, Richard and James, who had grown up amongst the vans and around the business, took over when the right time came, which was in 2015.
As you can see, our business has been locally born and raised from the very beginning. We are proud of our local and surrounding areas and we grew up as huge football fans so it was only natural that we would support a local team. Wishing to offer our support to a smaller team, we didn’t make the easy choice found just down the road. Rather, we are proud to say that we are now one of the official sponsors of Ilford FC.
Like our grandfather, they were pioneers; the original Ilford club was set up in 1881 and went on to found the London League and Isthmian League. Following a number of restructures and mergers, Ilford FC in its current guise was established in 1987 and joined the Essex Senior League. The club has had a turbulent history, but has seen many successes including winning the Essex Senior League Cup in 2002-2003. In previous years they have also won trophies in the Isthmian League: they were Champions three times and Division Two champions once, that being their most recent success in 2004-2005.
Affectionately known as The Foxes, they are based in Ilford’s Cricklefield Stadium and they are wholly owned by their members, another reason we like supporting this home-grown club. They are big supporters of the game at a grassroots level, with teams for the under 13s, under 14s, under 15s, and under 18s, in addition to their under 21s and seniors teams. Foxes Football Academy also offers coaching to both boys and girls between the ages of six and eleven.
We hope you can see why we are proud to be local boys, supporting our local team. Perhaps you can join us at one of their matches soon? Should you need a van in the meantime you know where to go. Our CVS Van Hire family is here to help when you need us – be it for van hire, sales, or maintenance. All you need to do is give us a call on 020 8003 2785 and we will set you up with whatever you need.
