THE COUNTY GRANT FUND – CREATING WELCOMING ENVIRONMENTS IN CRICKET ……………………………………………………………

THE COUNTY GRANT FUND – CREATING WELCOMING ENVIRONMENTS IN CRICKET

The ECB’s County Grant Fund has been running since late 2021 and has provided grants of up to £10,000 for clubs to enhance their facilities. In this article, WCB’s Richard Evans discusses its impact so far, with input from club representatives at some of the Warwickshire based clubs who have benefitted from grants.

“The purpose of the County Grant Scheme is twofold,” explains Richard Evans. “Firstly, by enabling clubs to enhance their facilities, the grant will encourage greater participation in cricket. Secondly, and equally as important, it will help make clubs more welcoming to their local community and inclusive. The clubs that have accessed and utilised the fund so far have made some fantastic changes to their facilities. Many of these changes have also included better facilities for female cricketers, which is very welcome and can only help to grow the women’s game further in Warwickshire.”

Richard describes how each club has done something different with their County Grant Fund funding, depending on their particular circumstances. Some clubs have already completed their development work, others are in progress, and others still have the work scheduled for the end of this season. To get a more detailed view, WCB spoke to some of the recipient clubs, and this is what they had to say.

Philip Webb - President of Tanworth & Camp Hill CC

“When we upgraded our net facilities recently, they were being used every day and really opened the club up. These new nets highlighted the fact that we had to do something about our clubhouse, which was falling into disrepair. The £10,000 we received via the County Grant Fund really helped with this work, along with other grants from organisations like Sport England, member fundraising and sponsorship from local businesses (Pertemps and Decorus Flooring).

We now have an incredible clubhouse, which can hold around 100 people (as opposed to about 40 previously). The kitchen and bar have both been moved and upgraded. We also have new patio doors opening out onto a decking area, and better changing facilities. Visiting teams can’t believe what we have done, in comparison to the old facilities. Sometimes I look at it all and I can’t believe it either!

The changes have already allowed us to generate more income for the club, which can be reinvested back into the club. We will also be able to hold much bigger functions at the club. All in all, the upgrade will enable us as a club to increase our spending power. As well as improving the finances, it will also make the club a more attractive place to play and socialise. We have already had new members join as a result of our improved facilities.”

Kevin Perfect – Club Secretary at Knowle Village CC

“I have played cricket at Knowle Village CC since 1999 and, with the exception of one new carpet, the inside of the club is exactly as it was when I first walked in. The clubhouse is desperately in need of a renovation. Our plan is to modernise the social area and make the club house more inviting, so more people come to the club. Part of the plan is also to make the building more energy efficient and the new patio doors, radiators and lights will contribute greatly towards that goal. Work starts in September at the end of the cricket season, and we can’t wait for it to start.

The funding from the County Grant Fund accounts for a significant chunk of the total project. I found out about the scheme from a post about the County Grant Fund on the WCB Twitter feed. It explained how the grants were for developing social areas to create welcoming environments and I thought that fitted in very well with what we have had in mind for a few years now. I emailed Richard Evans and said we would like to be considered. This was then followed up by a meeting with Andy Wyles and Chris Kenny to talk through the proposals.

The County Fund Grant and the development of the club house will enable us to meet our club priorities of attracting more adult and junior members and securing its long term future. There is lots of competition from other clubs around here, so we have to put ourselves in the best possible position with our facilities.

Our All Stars programme is going well and all 48 spaces have been taken up, which is positive. Friday nights are busy and we are hoping the renovation will have a positive effect on bar takings. Whilst we are not in a position yet to have our own women and girls’ section, we have an arrangement with WCB where our ground can be used on some Sundays during the cricket season for girls’ district and county cricket.”

Russ Longhorne - Chair of Four Oaks Saints CC

“We are currently in the process of redeveloping the club house here at Four Oaks Saints CC. We are hoping the majority of the work will be finished by the end of this month. During the pandemic it struck home that we had completely outgrown our existing facilities. When we were allowed to open indoors, but socially distanced, I think we could only seat 15-16 people.

Luckily, we had some land behind the club house that we weren’t using so we have been able to extend the facilities at the back. We will now have a great L shaped club room and bar, a new kitchen, and sliding doors onto a new terrace. It is a big project so whilst the County Grant Fund we received is small in relation to the overall cost, it will be invaluable in funding some of the back end work towards the end of the project that we hadn’t yet got funding for, including the patio doors and the decoration work.

I found out about the County Grant Fund through one of the regular email communications from the WCB and decided to find out more. The application itself was made online, but Richard Evans was very helpful in guiding us and providing some of the information we needed to complete the application. Whenever financial support is available, we will jump at the chance to apply for it as grants like this allow us to develop our facilities and invest in our junior and senior players. The whole point of running a junior section is to bring on the senior players of the future so any help the ECB are able to give us is very welcome.

There are so many other activities for children to get involved with nowadays. It’s important, therefore, that we have good facilities and coaching to attract and retain young players. Fifteen years ago, parents were much more likely to drop children off at junior training and leave them. Now, things have changed, and parents will stay to have a drink and socialise on junior training nights, even getting involved in helping at sessions. This makes having good quality coaching even more important – if people like what you have to offer, they will stay longer.”

Stephen Gardner, Chairman, Fillongley CC

“Our third team always had to play on a hired pitch, some distance from our main ground. When we started women’s cricket at Fillongley, we had to alternate between men’s and women’s games on a Sunday - meaning the men’s team was away whenever the women played, or vice versa. Both of these arrangements made it hard for players moving between second and third teams, or women moving into men’s leagues, and many players didn’t feel fully part of the club.

When, in 2020, we managed to secure a long term lease on our ground, we were able to negotiate a lease for the agricultural field adjacent to our pitch. This gave us the opportunity to build a second pitch and unify the Club. Within the Club we had the skills needed to do much of the physical work, to raise funds and project manage the development. In the wider Fillongley community, we found the skills to produce the outfield. With a clear vision in mind many people have worked together to make our second pitch a reality.

We were able to fund the outfield ourselves but importantly the ECB’s County Funds Grant has enabled us to install an artificial strip. Our close contact with the WCB meant we were able to prepare and submit our grant application quickly. Just 14 months after the outfield was a meadow, we recently played our first league game on our second pitch. This weekend we hosted four games, with the 1st and 3rd teams playing league cricket on Saturday and our Village Cup side playing alongside our women’s side on Sunday. The teams supported each other before, during and after the matches and spectators had the benefit of twice the excitement. There is little doubt that the second pitch has brought the whole Club closer together.”

Summary – Richard Evans, WCB

“It’s great to see clubs using the County Grant Scheme to make improvements to their facilities. I think the pandemic has made us all realise the importance of having welcoming, inclusive places in our communities and cricket clubs can play an important role in this sense. Looking at the work already done, and that which is planned, all of us at WCB have been impressed by the standard of the redevelopment work. In addition to the clubs covered above, Moseley Ashfield CC has used the County Grant Fund to make the club welcoming and to renovate facilities for girls’ cricket. I would urge other clubs looking to redevelop their facilities to find out more about the County Grant Fund’s valuable potential for their club. The ECB really is showing great support to clubs with this initiative. We are all grateful for this investment by the ECB in the future of club cricket.”

For more information about the County Grant Fund please contact [email protected]