No job too far for Macknade helper

5 April 2005

Around 25 volunteers made improvements at Macknade

NatWest CricketForce 2005 proved a success at Macknade in Kent as volunteers from as far away as Canada gave their support to a busy weekend of work.

Former player Paul Begg flew in all the way from Toronto and joined around 25 fellow helpers in carrying out a list of improvements to the club’s ground.

The first task of the weekend was the removal of old fences and clearing debris, fallen branches and litter from the ground and surrounding areas. This filled a skip kindly donated by Silver Skips as well as keeping a small bonfire burning through out the weekend.

The second task was to paint the exterior of the club pavilion, score hut and changing rooms; a demanding job which took both days. The scoreboard was also revamped and refitted by club chairman Andrew Corcoran.

The club’s youngest volunteer Will Dear joined marketing manager Ben Martin in planting a flower bed in front of the clubhouse with pansies supplied by Macknade Garden Centre at a reduced rate.

Illustration design also donated both time and materials to add the finishing touches to the clubhouse with a fantastic mural.

Martin praised the efforts of everyone involved, saying: “I'd like to thank everyone who gave up their time to volunteer and all the businesses that helped out. I feel the event was successful even though not as many businesses contributed as we had hoped."

Begg felt his journey from Canada had been worthwhile, commenting: “It was fantastic to meet up with old friends and make new ones. It’s been a long time since I was last here but it’s good to see the club looking better than ever. It even helped me beat my jet lag."

Vincent Taylor from illustration design added: "As soon as I found out about CricketForce I knew I had to do something for Macknade, not only because it's my local club but also because I know how hard the members work to keep the club looking great."