To raise funds for the continuation and prosperity of Newcastle Cricket Club
by Phil Hudson in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
The monies pledged from the local community and our supporters would be used for the development of the bar facilities and to pay for coaching and facilities to sustain our junior cricket and womens cricket section.
This includes education and provision of coaches and the purchase of coaching equipment.
Who we are
Newcastle Cricket Club was officially formed in 2001 from the old ‘County Club’ based in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. Our Osborne Avenue ground is one of the finest in the region and we take great pride in this.
Since our inception, we have played in the North East Premier League exclusively, finishing as runners up in 2016. Our 2nd team and Academy side have won their respective NEPL competitions multiple times, and boast strong records in the cups also. The club fields 4 senior sides on a weekend and 4 junior sides (2 at Under 11, 1 at Under 13 and 1 at Under 15.) In addition we expect to run an Under 19 side in 2021. We are a fully Clubmark accredited club.
We have welcomed some fantastic players over the last few seasons including Australian batting sensation Josh Phillippe and England’s talismanic all rounder Ben Stokes. However, we take most pride in developing our young players and in the 2020 season we were delighted that Will Jobling, Joe Boaden, George Darwood, and Ross Sinclair all represented the club at 1st team level having played junior cricket with us. In addition Matthew Brown and Alistair Gibson both made their mark in 2nd team cricket.
Currently the club has 7 directors, all of whom work on a volunteer basis. The directors are assisted by a further volunteer network as well as some casual staff and one full time employee.
What has caused the problem ?
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the club extremely hard. Our business model is that we particularly require function bookings for our downstairs function room in order to support our cricket operations, and as such even as we were able to trade last summer we were missing out on a great deal of income and profitability. Since late September our bar has been shut as the North East has been in Tier 2 restrictions or above, meaning that we have been unable to trade at all. Naturally during this period we still have ongoing costs to meet including rent, utilities and staff costs.
How much do we want to raise?
Our aim is to raise a minimum of £3,000 from Crowd Funding, with a stretch goal of £6,000. We hope to benefit from some match funding from Sport England, but we need as many pledges as possible to make this a reality.
More about the Club and its effects on the community
The club draws its playing base from a wide area, with players keen to sample our facilities and test themselves at a high level of cricket. We invested in artificial nets relatively recently and this ensures that members are able to practice in a safe enclosed environment even when there are games in progress.
Our junior setup attracts children from all areas surrounding the ground, across a wide variety of societal sectors and promotes an inclusive and safe environment. We have worked with local schools in the area to create a clear pathway into the club and are looking to do so again.
In addition, our ground is one of the largest areas of open green space in an urban area of Newcastle. The space is regularly used by families and children playing when there is no cricket on. Furthermore, our indoor facilities are enjoyed by all with full disabled access – with groups as diverse at the Jesmond Gentleman’s Association and music academy The Rock Project utilising our meeting space.
What the Club needs the funds for
The pandemic has affected us all in any number of ways and there are any number of incredibly worthy organisations who are looking for assistance just like we are. This year our club had aims to enhance our junior section further, and re-activate our Women’s Cricket programme after a dormant couple of years.
In order to do this, the club needs funds for:-
The latter has become particularly prevalent in the wake of COVID and the restrictions on equipment sharing that are now in force. We also aim to hire 3 new coaches this year (1 specialist female coach) in order to restart our engagement in local primary schools as well as running our existing commitments to junior cricket.
Coaching courses, first aid courses and child safeguarding courses are all run by the ECB for a cost and the upfront expense of putting several coaches through these courses has a significant effect on cashflow at the best of the times - however in the current climate it is something we simply couldn't afford to do with support.
Please use our reward scheme
Where possible, we are trying to provide fun and exciting rewards for supporters who are able to pledge to assist us. Please feel free to peruse these and take advantage of them, we are adding to them all the time!
We have been working with local business to provide as many rewards as possible for people who are able to support us. We will continue to do so right up until our Crowdfunder challenge ends! We would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who has pledged funds or donated rewards, you are all incredibly appreciated by us.
Any help in spreading the word would also be appreciated by word of mouth or social media.
This project offers rewards in return for your donation.