Bridgwater Cricket Facility Refurbishment

Aim

Raise money to complete a much needed refurbishment on our double lane astro nets and improve the safety netting on the Wyndham Park ground

We are back…

Following on from a really successful Crowdfunder in 2022 which was match funded by the Active Together Sport England initiative we raised over £19,000! That allowed us to make some great improvements at the club which many of you will have seen or had the benefit of using. The majority of the funding was used on 3 key investments;

• new outfield mower
• upgraded fire alarm system
• digital mobile scoreboard for the Wyndham Park ground

We are looking to repeat the process but for some new projects in 2023.

Who are we...

Bridgwater cricket club is a leading community cricket club which has been designated a focus club by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to be a hub of the the community network for cricket development, particularly for the benefit of children and young people.

The Club has achieved Clubmark Accreditation by demonstrating that best practices are in place to develop and deliver high quality community cricket in a safe, effective and child-friendly way.

Cricket starts at a young age for some with the All Stars sessions for 5-8 year olds and a Dynamos program for 8-11 year olds.

The club runs a thriving youth section running sides at under 11, under 13, under 15 and under 19s age groups and takes great pride in developing cricketers through its youth programme into the senior sides.

In 2023 we will also continue to host disability cricket in the form of the 'Sedgemoor Lions' which has been a fantastic development from the Somerset Super 1's programme.

We will also be hosting MCC young cricketers and the WEPL T20 regional finals day.

Family club working within the local community….

We work closely with over 25 local businesses who support the club in various ways. This also creates a great opportunity for these local businesses to network and collaborate.

We are also very proud of the work we do to support charities and good causes. In 2022 we raised in excess of £20,000 through a combination of events and fundraising activities

2023 Crowdfunder campaign

Why we are doing another campaign?

The cost of living crisis impacts everyone and that also includes small businesses and Sports Clubs such as ourselves. The main impact on our cricket club is the increase in utility bills, some of which may see an increase by as much as 400%. 

This means we will have to work very hard to continue to deliver much needed projects. The Crowdfunder platform combined with match funding support from the Sport England Active Together fund will allow us to land our projects we need to complete to enable everyone to remain physically active in a safe environment. 

This year we need to deliver 2 projects before the season starts which will enable the astro practice nets to be completely revamped and made safe as well as build a new semi-permanent safety net on the Wyndham Park pitch.

Skidmore & Barrington net refurbishment

The two lane Astro nets were installed 6 years ago in memory of two former club legends Kit Barrington and Bob Skidmore. This fantastic facility is used by 100’s of players across the summer ranging from our youngest junior members to senior teams. This practise area is also used nearly daily by children in the summer as it is a great space to play cricket. In 6 years it has probably had double its expected use.

As the nets have had so much use they need a full refurbishment to ensure they remain a safe facility.
Following a lifecycle review from Total-Play we have a detail report of what is required to ensure the nets are reset to their best.

The refurb will include replacing damaged netting, lifting and levelling the surface and upgrading the gates to reduce the wear on the carpet. This work will allow all the many people to continue using this facility safely for many years to come.

The project costs to repair this facility are expensive but ultimately needed to allow them to be used safely in 2023.

Wyndham Park Safety Netting

Currently we have an excellent relationship and agreement with Haygrove School which allows both parties to play cricket on Wyndham Park.

This second playing facility hosts our AXl and Pointers matches as well as many youth team fixtures throughout each year.

We are working closely with the local Council, Haygrove School and local residents to try and reduce the risk of damage to local property.

In order to do this we are looking to be able to install more substantial netting on a temporary basis on match days. The new solution would help reduce the risk of injury or damage to local property.

Although cricket has been played on the ground before the houses were built we want to reduce the risk of damage. The solution we have researched will be able to be put up on a match day and removed at the end of the game therefore not needing planning permission but also allowing a 7ft protective net to be used.

The initial quote from Net World Sports plus installation of post sockets is just over £2k.

The total amount we are looking to raise would also allow us to replace the broken ice machine in the bar. This would make us more environmentally sustainably as we would not have to buy bagged ice which would also be more cost effective in the medium to long term. 

Impact 

The impact on achieving our funding campaign will have two key but really important outputs;

1. It will allow the continued use of the club nets for not only club members but also local children who regularly use them. This will allow them a great place to meet, play cricket and exercise which in term will support not only physical but mental health.

2. Improving the Wyndham Park safety netting will allow cricket to be played in a safer environment and reduce the risk of damage to local property.

Who benefits….

• Current junior teams who train and play weekly
• All stars (5 to 8 year old children's introduction to cricket)
• dedicated ladies teams
• 4 senior sides that play weekly 
• Sedgemoor Lions (inclusive cricket)
• Cricket lovers in the community who watch and enjoy cricket for free every week
• Local residents 

What help we need?

There are 3 key areas where you could help us deliver our target;

• Share the fundraising campaign on your personal social media so it reaches the biggest audience. The more people we reach the more support we will get
• Make a pledge or purchase a reward 
• Offer a reward or recommend a business you may know to donate a reward and support our campaign

If you have any questions or think you could help please contact us via [email protected]

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about what we doing

This project successfully funded on 9th April 2023