All Together Now at Bury CC

Aim

Raising funds to cover the financial shortfall caused by COVID, so we bounce back in 2021 with our sporting and social role in the community

Who we are

Bury CC is a community based cricket club located in Greater Manchester. Established over 175 years ago we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, friendly club and an asset to our community. We have had a few homes around Bury in that time but settled on our current site at Radcliffe Road in 1920.

We have junior teams at U9, U11, U13 and U15 catering for all abilities and from all backgrounds. A number of our junior players play representative cricket and for regional feeder teams. We also deliver the ECB’s All-Stars programme aimed at the youngest players. Our 4 senior teams play at different levels of the local league structure and we are proud that many of our juniors progress to the senior teams.

The Club has Clubmark Status, the accreditation by the ECB which confirms we provide a safe environment for both seniors and juniors. We also provide free use of the ground to local schools for match and practice activity and host an annual primary school tournament.

We are volunteer driven, our volunteers helping run training sessions, sit on the committee, organise events, carry out maintenance, staff the clubhouse and many, many more activities. Perhaps our proudest achievement was the self financing of our pavilion in 2013.

Whilst not one of the biggest clubs in the county, we regularly host a variety of Lancashire boys and girls representative games on behalf of LCB, which we feel is a good indicator of the esteem in which we are held. 

The impact of COVID-19

2020 was a dual celebration of our 175th anniversary and one hundred years at our current home. We had planned on commemorating these anniversaries with prestige fixtures, a gala dinner, and several social events. Unfortunately none of these were possible due to the pandemic, which meant that not only were we not able to celebrate the occasion together, but our projected finances took a major hit. 

With the season taking place in a much shortened manner and with much uncertainty around completion of fixtures, we didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask any of our players for annual membership fees, which are an essential component of our income. Whilst this was the right decision to take, essentially the club had to subsidise this loss of income. 

We also had to postpone our annual golf day, which is usually one of our major sources of income and given that the business community was also impacted by the pandemic, our usual sources of sponsorship weren’t able to be accessed. 

How we will spend the funds

Despite the difficulties experienced last year we approach the new 2021 season with a renewed sense of optimism and a determination to bounce back. The title of our project is “All Together Now”, as we feel that by pulling together as a club and by reaching out to our wider community we can make 2021 a successful year, with us all getting back to playing and watching the sport we love with a smile back on our faces. 

The funds will help us pay for much needed maintenance of the clubhouse and the outside space which had been planned for 2020 but was simply not viable. When it is safe for players and spectators to return, we want to be able to provide them with the facilities they deserve. 

Having been sat unused for almost 12 months, our practice nets are also in need of particular attention before any training can take place. 

We also need to generate sufficient funds to cover our essential expenditure such as ground maintenance, umpires fees, match balls etc. With other sources of income still uncertain at the moment it is imperative that we are able to cover our costs. 

Our role in our community is one that we are proud of. The fact that last year we were not able to provide much cricket, especially coaching to young people in particular, is a source of regret. The game of cricket depends on new players being attracted to the sport and last summer very few new players joined the club for understandable reasons. With the additional funds we hope that this scheme will provide, we will redouble our efforts to attract new young players to our club and the sport by providing them with the facilities and equipment they deserve. 

We are a resilient little club who have survived over 175 years. As we look to the future we are determined to be here for many, many more. With your help we are sure that we will be. 

This project successfully funded on 18th May 2021