Women and Girls Cricket Pavilion Refurbishment

Aim

To refurbish the women's Cricket Pavilion at the Mapperley Plains Recreation & Social Club to provide safe and inclusive changing facilities

Why are we crowdfunding?

Cricket is one of the most popular activities at the Mapperley Plains Recreation & Social Club. We host Gedling Colliery Cricket Club and are the only venue in Gedling/Mapperley with dedicated facilities for women’s and girls’ cricket alongside men’s and youth teams, and often host games with mixed teams. Gedling Colliery Cricket Club is also an ECB Disability Champion Club, delivering Disability Super 1s sessions with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club.

Sadly, roof leaks and floor rot forced the Women & Girls' pavilion to close in 2024. This resulted in female players losing access to dedicated safe changing facilities. The pavilion is also now unable to provide a designated prayer space for players. Many players leave matches early to change at home, weakening team bonding and social interaction. The closure has also limited disability cricket matches and other community events.  Some of the damage can be seen in the pictures below -

It’s important to us that Mapperley Plains Recreation & Social Club offers an environment that continues to nurture and facilitate growth and development of cricket in our community – and this project is key to our purpose.

We’re hoping to receive £10,022 matched funding from Sport England Movement Fund to help us reach our target – and the Trust needs to raise at least £10,022 ourselves to make this happen! All donations will be received by the Trust and used to refurbish the Women and Girls Pavilion at the cricket ground.

Gedling Colliery Cricket Club have Women's XI, Women’s Super 8s, Women’s Softball and junior girls teams and we are proud of the growth and development of their women and girls division. Last year their Womens XI team finished a record 4th in the East Midlands Women’s Cricket League Premier Division, with two of the team’s players achieving their first ever batting centuries!  Women and girl cricketers have highlighted to us the pavilion’s importance for safety, dignity, and team connection. One 12-year-old female player commented, “we’ll feel more comfortable getting changed, particularly if we need to put our thigh guard underneath as we won’t need to get out of the way [of the boys changing area] to do it.” Our female women and girls team coach added, “girls want to feel comfortable, in their own environment so they can express themselves,” while the team manager noted women and girls would “like their own space where they can display honours and trophies.”

Gedling Colliery Cricket Club have also emphasised to us the need for modern facilities to support inclusive disability cricket and opportunities for pupils from local schools to access structured cricket sessions in a safe environment.

Community impact

This project will replace rotten floors, repair the roof and upgrade facilities, ensuring the pavilion can once again support women’s and girls’ cricket, disability cricket, and local community groups throughout the Mapperley and Gedling area.

In addition, the refurbishment will restore St John’s Ambulance training sessions in the pavilion.

We believe the refurbishment will increase participation in cricket, especially among women, girls, and disabled young people, and help to attract county-level disability and girls’ matches to Mapperley – which would raise the profile of inclusive sport, and expand our school partnerships, reaching many more children weekly through structured cricket activity.

Upgrading the facilities will remove barriers that currently discourage participation, particularly for women, girls, and players of faith who need private, safe changing and prayer space. These improvements will make Mapperley a hub for inclusive sport, supporting confidence, wellbeing, and healthy lifestyles.

We are very passionate about our Crowdfunding project, and your support would be very much appreciated – thank you!

Below you can hear from Charlotte, Gedling Colliery Cricket Club's women’s softball team captain, giving us a pitch-side example of why it's important we fix the Women & Girls' pavilion... 

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made