Trust fund to assist clubs

10 March 2008

The England and Wales Cricket Trust has set up a grant aid fund specifically to assist clubs registered for NatWest CricketForce 2008 that are taking on ‘green’ projects as part of their event.

The ‘Go Green’ club fund has been made available by the England and Wales Cricket Trust (EWCT), the associated charity of the ECB, and will be open to all ECB affiliated clubs who have registered for, and participate in, NatWest CricketForce 2008.

EWCT will be looking to support projects that evidence an environmental theme and/or improve energy efficiency – as part of ECB’s support of the UK’s short target to reduce (CO2) omissions by 20 per cent by 2010.

Grants are limited to a maximum of £10,000 per club, although the EWCT may review other projects under special circumstances. Also, the grant cannot exceed 75 per cent of the total cost of the project.

Full details of all conditions relating to the ‘Go Green’ club fund can be found in the ‘Go Green’ club fund guidance notes, which can be downloaded here.

Collecting rain water could be beneficial © Getty Images

The type of projects EWCT will consider are those that promote the use of sustainable energy, such as solar panels, rain water harvesting or small wind turbines – all of which can be of great benefit environmentally and economically in the long term.

Also considered will be projects looking to improve energy efficiency; from simple ways such as replacing light bulbs with ones with a low-energy specification, to installing energy-efficient products like energy-saving boilers, and general use of environmentally friendly materials and provision of recycling capacity either inside or outside the club.

The following application process must be adhered to, however, the EWCT reserves the right to change the process at any stage without prior written notification.

To progress a fund application, clubs need to register for NatWest CricketForce 2008 and complete their project brief information online.

They should then download a copy of the ‘Go Green’ club fund application form and guidance notes, and complete and return their application form with any necessary supporting evidence – which will be processed by an ECB facilities administrator in line with the procedures laid out in the guidance notes.

The guidance notes also provide information on alternative funding sources available in support of sustainable energy projects.