We really encourage our juniors to support [the club] because they’re going to be our volunteers of the future,” says Tracy Bailey, Junior Secretary at Wythenshawe CC in Manchester.
“By giving them some ownership of the club by putting a little bit of work in, they will see just how hard our staff work. I think sometimes, unless you actually are hands-on, you don’t see the work that goes into getting the ground ready.”
Tracy was speaking ahead of Wythenshawe’s Get Set Weekend powered by Toyota day that took place yesterday (April 5), with the aim of getting the club in good shape for the season ahead and building on Wythenshawe’s already healthy sense of community and status as a community hub in the local area.
“We hope that it will keep people involved and we get a few more volunteers,” she said.
“That’s what it is, it’s an initiative to drive volunteer recruitment. We make it a nice day, it’s usually around Easter so I get a load of Easter eggs and the little kids might do an Easter egg hunt.
“I like to encourage the children more than anything and make it a nice place for them to go.”
On how beneficial having a Get Set Weekend powered by Toyota is to her club, Tracy added: “It’s the little jobs that take up time. [The weekend is about] getting someone to paint the perimeter boards, someone to sweep the leaves out of the nets, someone to put teas and coffees on for people and just generally having a really nice community day.”
Previously known as Cricket Force, the ECB’s Get Set Weekend powered by Toyota has been a pre-season tradition for clubs up all over England and Wales for many years.
This year a record 1,730 clubs and more than 37,000 volunteers have got involved, supporting their cricket clubs and local communities in the process.
The focus of this year’s events has been for clubs to “place a focus not only on getting their facilities and equipment ready, but also on inspiring and celebrating their people, be it players or volunteers, new or returning. The incredible dedication and outstanding contributions from both players and volunteers have a lasting impact on the sport.”
If anyone at Wythenshawe should be celebrated, it’s definitely Tracy, a retired special education teacher, who has taken on many roles at the club since joining as a “tea girl” aged 16.
Wythenshawe CC has always been an important institution in Northenden and the surrounding parts of south Manchester.
Having been established in the 1870s as a place to help soldiers returning from war to reintegrate back into civilian life, over the years the club has been an important pillar in the local community.
The clubhouse is used by other local sports teams who do not have a facility of their own, is a polling station during elections, and is the base for an adult support group that Tracy runs.
The club’s importance in the local area was really highlighted during the pandemic, where Wythenshawe was seen as a “green lung” and a place people could go and enjoy some fresh air.
“We really prided ourselves on being that area where it was safe and clean to go to during a very difficult period in a lot of people’s lives,” Tracy said.
“A parent came up to me when Covid was over and said: ‘I don’t know what we’d have done without this club. This has saved my son because he’s been able to come and see his friends every week.’
“These are things that we carry forward into the next generation. Support the club that supported you.”
This is where the Get Set Weekend powered by Toyota comes in: those who have been benefited by Wythenshawe had the opportunity to give back.
More than 50 volunteers were at the club yesterday and they got the chance to meet England Women stars Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn, as well as Lancashire and England Men U19s batter Kesh Fonseka, who stopped by the club to lend a hand.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge dropped in at North London CC while Stratford CC welcomed Bears players Bethan Ellis and Millie Taylor.
“It’s about having a community and being involved in your community,” Tracy said. “And isn’t cricket the best community? I think so.”