Attenborough Cricket Club Development Plan

Founded in 1905 and re-formed in 1955, Attenborough CC is one of Nottinghamshire’s leading cricket clubs. Our home ground, The Strand, is nestled next to the picturesque Attenborough Nature Reserve just 3 miles from the centre of Nottingham. 

With four senior Saturday league teams, two Sunday teams, an U19 squad, two softball and one hardball women and girls team (Attenborough Starlings), hardball age groups from U15 to U11 and over 200 youngsters attending All Stars and Dynamos (age 5 upwards); Attenborough provides a cricketing home for hundreds and hundreds of adults and children from across the local community.

Our focus is on fostering a life-long love of cricket, facilitating health and wellbeing and building accessible and inclusive community facilities for everyone to enjoy. 

Many of our youngsters progress through the age groups to senior cricket; many of the over 100 volunteers, ground staff, coaches and helpers have been with the club for years. Attenborough was one of the first Clubs in the Country to achieve Clubmark status (2006) in recognition of the cricketing opportunities we provide in a safe, well-run environment. Our inclusive focus, welcoming and friendly atmosphere and growing membership is testament to the legacy of Attenborough Cricket Club.

Our success is evidenced by the numbers of happy players, supporters and volunteers that use the facilities almost every day across the summer months. With that comes the welcome challenge of fitting everyone in, and providing a quality and inclusive experience for all.  The growth of the club, particularly coming out of COVID, has been significant and we now need to invest in what we have to future proof the club for the foreseeable future.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are fortunate to have the support of a number of local businesses who provide sponsorship in addition to donations from our valued supporters and the other income streams that our volunteers work hard to generate which help cover the running costs of the club.

The level of investment required to improve our facilities to the extent they need to be improved for the first phase of our plans to accommodate our growing numbers, cannot be covered by the club alone. Through these crowdfunding efforts, the match funding from Sport England and grants from the ECB and our local councils, we can invest in the club and safeguard the future of cricket in the Attenborough community.

Building on our success, our growth and development

10 years ago the pavilion was rebuilt and has provided a superb base for the club to grow.

As our facilities improved, our cricket offer has grown, backed by the volunteers that are crucial to the ongoing success of the club. Throughout our journey and central to the mission of our club, it is essential that we remain true to our values of being a family-oriented, friendly Club where visitors will always receive a warm welcome.

While the building of the flood wall, as part of the Trent Bank flood defences, has helped to protect the ground, the Village Green is still susceptible to flooding, as the recent examples this autumn and winter demonstrate. 

The weather does have a significant impact on what we do at the Strand and Chilwell Barracks, as even during the summer, heavy rain can have a detrimental effect on the preparation and maintenance of pitches and whether matches can take place. 

Our plan to invest in our wickets and covers will help to give us more protection against these weather events and increases our chances of getting games on for the enjoyment of our members.

Investing in our second ground at Chilwell Barracks

Our limited space at the Strand has meant that we need a second facility to provide enough space for all our teams to play. Our 3rd and 4th XIs and junior teams have played at different locations over the years and have not had a secure, permanent second home for the last 30 years.

In 2018 we partnered with Chilwell Station on the ground at Chilwell Barracks, investing significant time and money to upgrade the square.

Our 3rd and 4th XIs are part of the initial pathway for our junior cricketers into senior cricket.  It's critical that we provide as top-quality facilities as possible for these cricketers to develop their skills so that they have the best opportunity to progress as far as they can.

In order to create the best playing environment we need to continue this investment and source new covers and sight screens for the ground. These additions, in conjunction with the money saved on not having to rent other grounds from third parties, will ensure we are able to create a viable second ground proposition.

What we are fundraising for

We are fundraising for the following initiatives at Attenborough CC:

New hybrid wicket installed at The Strand

The Strand is in use almost every day from the middle of April to mid-September. It is a superb place to watch and play cricket, and is in high demand, from both the Attenborough teams and other local sides, including the Nottinghamshire County age group sides and touring sides visiting the county.

While it is a blessing to have such a great facility, it is a challenge to manage the use of the ground and ensure that the wickets are prepared to the best possible standard.

To facilitate the amount of cricket and ease some of the burden on the groundskeeping team, we need more durable wickets that are better hardened against the elements and the increased wear and tear.

Our solution is to invest in two hybrid wickets which will be used for training and games across the age groups at the club. 

Hybrid wickets (and surfaces) are increasingly used across the amateur and professional game (hybrid surfaces are also used across other sports). For Attenborough CC, the hybrid wickets will improve surface durability, reduce wear and tear and provide a consistent playing surface for longer, enabling us to use them for training and matches throughout the season.  

Our Tuesday evening training sessions - where our senior men's and women's teams train together - are important to bring the club together, and the hybrid wickets will further enhance this as the two groups train side by side.

New pitch covers and sight screens for the Strand and Chilwell Barracks

Our current covers need to be replaced. Our new covers will replace the existing covers at the Strand, enabling us to protect the new hybrid surfaces and existing square properly.

We will be able to re-use 3 of those 4 covers at our second ground at Chilwell Barracks, which currently have none, giving a second life to the ageing stalwarts whilst improving the facilities there. 

Our second ground also needs sight screens in order to bring it up to standard.

Additional portable batting net

The hybrid wickets give us the opportunity to run two grass wicket nets during the club night training across the age groups. Training on a proper wicket with a batting net will aid in the development of both batters and bowlers across the age groups and is an attractive draw for new players.  It will enable more people - with a focus on the Starlings - to get this type of training on Tuesday evenings in a safe environment.

Exciting times for the Attenborough cricketing community

In addition to these crowdfunding efforts, we have been actively pursuing additional streams of funding to deliver on the objectives for the club. To support our ambition to be a flagship club for women and girls cricket, we have secured the majority of funding and begun construction on, a dedicated changing facility for women and girls as an extension to the existing clubhouse. 

Through the exceptional support of our volunteers, Mercia Power, the ECB, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club's Development Team and our local councils, we will create a dedicated space for women and girls, supporting the growth of the Attenborough Starlings and providing cricket and community support for the growing membership.

This project forms part of our Crowd Funding campaign, the enable us to finish the internal fit out to the required standard and specifications requested by the Starlings, who have been involved in the design process, with our target to have the changing facility in place for the start of the 2024 season.

Community impact

Attenborough provides cricketing opportunities for all members of our wider community within a family-oriented, friendly Club. For women and girls, this includes areas such as Chilwell, Inham Nook and Stapleford, which don’t otherwise have access to women and girls cricket.

In 2023, we ran cricket sessions in local primary schools including Eskdale Junior School and The Lanes. We intend to increase this engagement with other schools and community groups in these areas in 2024 and beyond to facilitate their participation in physical exercise and also the social interaction that cricket can provide. 

Attenborough Village Green (The Strand) was established to provide recreational facilities for the local community under the control of the Attenborough Village Green Association.

Attenborough CC maintain the facility on their behalf and have close links with the other users – Attenborough FC and Attenborough Village Bowls Club and have also connected with Chilwell Manor Golf Club, and are building that relationship for the benefit of both Clubs and the community.

In addition to cricket and football, the ground is used for the Village Fete and Scarecrow Festival and the pavilion also hosts events for local groups, including Carol singing, Comedy nights and Beer festivals. 

The cricket pavilion at The Strand is open to social members, providing a place for local residents to gather and socialise with all the health and wellbeing benefits that brings. 

Our fundraising efforts here will only help us to broaden our cricketing offer for the future across all age groups, skill levels and genders.

How you can help

In order to achieve our target, which includes maximising the Sport England match funding, we need to hit our financial target and also our target for the number of donations (100) within the funding period.  Getting your help and support is so important, every little helps get us closer to our goal.

Donate any amount you can 

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