Help your club to feel the CricketForce

5 November 2004

Clubs all over the country are gearing up for the first national CricketForce weekend in what the ECB hope will be the biggest volunteering event ever staged.

ECB are hoping to attract over 10,000 volunteers to participate in the CricketForce weekend, which take place on April 2-3 2005 and involve all focus Clubs.

CricketForce is an initiative developed as part of the ECB's Natwest Volunteer programme, 'Get Involved'. ECB are encouraging cricket clubs throughout England and Wales to undertake major renovations to their clubhouses and grounds.

The scheme involves volunteers from the local community (i.e. members of the cricket club, parents, etc) working together to make a major improvement on the look and feel of these clubs. The idea is for the clubs to appeal to local businesses in order to receive as much sponsorship and materials as they can.

These materials will be used for jobs including painting, and scrapping and building new facilities to make the clubs a safer and more comfortable environment.

The initiative was piloted at Lingfield CC in Surrey and Hyde CC in Cheshire. They encouraged parents, businesses and members of the community to support their clubs by persuading businesses to donate materials, time and expertise. Members of the club and the public were also kind enough to offer their services and donate resources to the project.

Other clubs such as New Brighton CC and Shifnal CC have also taken part in CricketForce with positive results.

On Saturday April 10 more than 80 volunteers from New Brighton CC and the local community renovated the club house including two changing rooms and an activity room was created for the children. As a result of this the club is now developing links with local schools and other community groups. Phil Hale, the project manager, said: "There was a real sense of community spirit on the day."
Meanwhile, at Shifnal CC over 100 volunteers attended and managed the following impressive list of jobs: new kitchen fitted; bar refurbished ; toilets and showers painted ; fencing erected to create 'social area' ; trees and shrubs planted around perimeter; roadway repaired. The approximate value of the materials used was £4,500, 90 per cent of which was donated, mainly from the business community.

Some of the local companies who have contributed to CricketForce so far are B&Q, Ultra-Seal, Hankinsons, Tesco and Asda.

Twelve months after the first ever CricketForce, Lingfield CC reported an 83 per cent increase in bar revenue, more juniors and seniors playing in teams, new sponsorships and community interest in the club is at an all-time high, proving that partnerships between cricket, business and local people can really make a difference.

If you are interested in holding a CricketForce event at your club and would like to find out more information please click on the following links:

Additional information can be obtained from your local county board.

Paint assistance

Are you looking to paint the outside of your pavilion, scorebox or sightscreen? Then you could try the community repaint website www.communityrepaint.org.uk

Unwanted, surplus paint is diverted from waste stream and re distributed for use by community groups, charities and voluntary organisations.