Campaign4Croquet

Who are we?

Tisbury Bowls and Croquet Club is a new, not-for-profit club which was opened two years ago by James May, a celebrity local pub owner. It was originally a bowls club but, starting from scratch with no croquet members, it now has 28 with a reasonable expectation that there will be 40 members in a year from now. 

Members are from a broad cross section of society within a 20 to 30 mile radius of Tisbury. The club prides itself on being welcoming, inclusive and accessible. A croquet club like ours has the potential to play a key role in assisting and supporting the welfare of people who benefit from tangible goals to improve their self-respect, ambition, personal fitness and the pleasure of the company of others. Croquet is a non-contact sport that is ideally suited to people from their late teenage years to those aged over 90! We hold free open days to encourage new members and, with suitable training routinely made available to club members at least three times a week, all are quickly able to play together as equals. It also appears that the experience of meeting members of other croquet clubs increases the community spirit and enjoyment. 

There are opportunities for those who just want to have a go, those who play socially, those who enjoy a bit more competition and for those whose competitive instinct could take them further afield. We host tournaments at all levels and enjoy meeting visiting players and clubs from various parts of Wiltshire, Dorset and Hampshire. The Club has introduced the game to teams of cricketers, footballers (see below), tennis players and even members of a local book club!

What have we already done?

Due to lack of funds, the lawn equipment and club facilities urgently needed attention. A group of enthusiastic croquet members raised over £25,000 to replace part of our clubhouse which has been a substantial investment but has transformed the club providing the necessary toilet and changing facilities and secure storage for croquet equipment. We have also repaired or replaced the majority of the equipment needed to maintain the lawn. These improvements were partly funded by the club but also generously supported by the Croquet Association (now Croquet England), Sport England, Wiltshire County Council, the local Alice Combes Trust and other grant providers. The pictures below give a flavour of what we have already achieved.

Removal of the old and building the new.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Following the pandemic the club has worked hard to retain and recruit new members and cover its day to day running costs but it has been a substantial investment for a small club and, even incorporating our existing cash resources of £3,000, we need an additional £3,000 to complete these tasks. We now seek help towards the cost of completing the final phase of this project. Success in raising £5,000 in this crowdfunding appeal would give the club a chance to survive for many years to come.

How we’ll spend the money raised

The priority for the crowdfunding proceeds that are raised will be used to finish the remedial works that are not yet complete. Surplus funds of up to £2,000 will be held over to cover the running costs of the Club for the next six months whilst any further surpluses will be put towards our secondary improvement objectives which will include purchasing replacement balls and hoops for future matches, replacing the worn sprinkler jets and installing new fencing where these are so evidently required.

We would really appreciate your support!

Please make a pledge! Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because the campaign only last six weeks and momentum is key to our success!

Spread the word. Tell others you know about our campaign. The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

Offer rewards. Are you able to donate something we can offer to our supporters?   We will give you publicity on our page!

Thank you for supporting us!

We would love to meet you, so come and have a game and see what we have achieved so far!