Bushley Cricket Club Community Pavilion Rebuild

Aim: We are raising funds to replace our 60 year old pavilion to provide a community asset for the cricket club and wider community use.

*Crowdfunder reopened with increased target of £20,000!*

The heart of the community:  Bushley is a small village in the south of Worcestershire nestled between the Malvern Hills and the River Severn.  Our cricket club is central to village life here in Bushley.  We have no pub, and no shop and as such the club is very much the heart of the community and a social hub for residents.

The club was founded in 1892 and today we have thriving men's and women's teams.  It is also used for wider sporting use, such as the annual Bushley Mile race, for weekly fitness classes, and as a base for walkers, cyclists and duathletes using the national cycle route through the village.  We have a fine sporting heritage, with two, yes two, Olympic gold medalists growing up in the village!

The club is the main location for village events, like our annual friendly six-a-side contest, beer festivals, fetes, bluebell walks, barbeques, Santa night, Halloween events and family celebrations.  It is also used for local classes, like calligraphy, creative writing, lampshade making, cake making, wine and cheese evenings and meetings for local groups like Young Farmers.  We want to ensure this community asset can continue by investing in and improving the pavilion for cricket, for wider sports use, and for the benefit of the whole community. 

The Pavilion:  If you have visited the pavilion recently you’ll know that it’s getting a bit tired and damp. Last rebuilt in the 1960s with an estimated lifespan of 50 years, it’s done well but is getting old and tired and is beginning to fail.  This year we were expecting to be well on our way to replacing the pavilion.  However, Covid-19 had a serious impact on the club, preventing us from playing cricket for most of the season, and preventing social events at the club for almost all of the year.  It has also delayed our fundraising events, and wider fundraising efforts.

Looking at the work necessary to bring the clubhouse up to modern standards, we’ve realised that that we need to rebuild rather than refurbish and are in urgent need of your support to provide a facility we can all be proud of and want to use for at least the next 50 years.  Back in the 1960's the village rallied around to fund and build the current pavilion.  A few years later, it did the same to raise funds to build a new village hall.  We need your help to do the same to rebuild this wonderful facility. 

The Club: The cricket club itself is in good health both on and off the field.  We have been saving funds for over a decade now to prepare for when we needed to replace the current pavilion. We have already made a good start but need to raise a lot more in order to build the community asset we need for the next 50 years. 

Our structure and purpose: We are in the process of converting into a “Charitable Incorporated Organisation” (CIO) which we hope will help the club last at least another 130 years.  ‘Public Benefit’ is a key part of this, and we want to encourage more village use of the club for sporting and community use. 

The Project:  The cricket club has long been a key part of Bushley and is much more than just a sporting venue.  By improving the pavilion this should provide an attractive venue in an outstanding location bringing further value to the village and surrounding areas.  We want to be sure that the new building continues to serve the village providing more than changing-rooms and a roller shed.  We love our traditional wooden pavilion and want to retain this character whilst bringing it up to modern standards.

How Crowdfunder can help:  So, as you’ve probably guessed we’re going to need help to get this done.  We need funding to do this, and we are applying to Sport England to help support our crowdfunding efforts.  We have options to support us at various levels as we want to involve as many people as possible in the area.  You can donate to us, pay for playing or social membership or buy bar tokens or 'buys a brick' for the new pavilion.  You can also opt for various rewards, thanks to the generosity of our supporters.  For example you could opt to hire the pavilion and/or pitch for a party.  You can also hire our 6m by 3m event gazebos out.  The most in demand rewards will undoubtedly be the cakes and flapjacks from Sandra and Carmel!  Check out our rewards, and more will be added in coming weeks. If you have any ideas, or can offer anything please get in contact.

We will make a space for all to be proud of

We are working on the plans and drawings and hope to share these soon.  As we want this to be your clubhouse too, we would love to hear if there is anything you would like to see incorporated into the new building.

If your want to organize your own fundraiser or sponsored event for the club, this can also be done through our Crowdfunder page with money raised by going directly onto our total.  

Thank you for everyone who has supported us so far, and for the various messages of support we have received.  Please get in touch if you can help in any way, or can offer and skills to the project, or if you have ideas for the future. 

This project successfully funded on 15th March 2021