Changing lives to better the community

Who we are?

We're crowdfunding £20,000 to put towards new practice nets (cricket) and football pitches that will hugely improve our community HUB facilities.

After serving the community for 21 years and still going strong in delivering sport sessions, mentoring programmes, tutoring sessions, trips, drop in centre advice and so forth. The organisation has its most challenging task at hand as we have acquired a facility from the Birmingham City Council in order to have a Community HUB to have a base where we can deliver to more people to play more sports like basketball, cricket, tennis, as we have school holiday programmes throughout the year for all to take part, drop in sessions for the elderly, work shops and seminars. 

The development of the site is much needed it has potential to have over 800 plus users on a weekly basis attending the park and benefitting from what’s on offer. Our dedicated team of volunteers have been role models for the last 21 years it has proven that we are making and bettering the lives of the young and old in many ways we wish to have a facility that can be used throughout the year indoor/outdoor facility catered for all sports and weather conditions. We aim to better the facility to have another playing area and develop an outdoor gym and a Astro small pitch. 

We are a Clubmark accredited club and affiliated to the Birmingham County FA. We run a recreational and centre of excellence programme for all to take part in As a club we are active in the community and run family orientated events through the year as well as offering other services to assist everyone.

Please view our website www.bysa.co.uk 

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are raising money in order to buy new net practice facilities to help deliver our vision of providing excellent cricket facilities which will allow additional playing facility area for that sport and make a small Astro football pitch, this to increase participation in the sport and provide a high quality community asset. Our current facility is not fit for purpose and is significantly impacting our offering and restricting the ability to scale our participation in cricket and football at both junior and senior level.

Our existing facility is:

The current facility offers a concrete playing area which is used for basketball, cricket, football, tennis. Along with grass pitches which need attention to sports equipment and maintenance of the grass cutting and pitch marking and a hut which has changing rooms, toilets, office, kitchen and storeroom.

The facility we would like to install is another playing area along side the concrete pitch for people to play cricket and tennis on that side and have a Astro turf football pitch at the back of the building for another area to play football which will free up a lot of space and not have one concrete pitch having all sports played from there. This will help to have more attraction and users on site playing sports, 1-2-1 coaching/small group practices, sports played out of season or in slightly inclement weather. We want to better our facilities to deliver more sessions to the community.

How we will spend the money raised ?

All of the money raised in this crowdfunding will go towards the cost of the new net facility and play areas. We are aiming to raise £20,000 from this crowdfunding as part of a wider fundraising effort to meet the required £30,000 cost of the project. Other money we will be raising from potential grants and fundraising efforts. An example of the new facility can be seen in the video attached.

How our project will be united by Birmingham 2022

As part of our fundraising campaign we are applying for some funding from Sport England's 'Places and Spaces' fund, linked to creating a lasting legacy from Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 2022. Our new initiative will create a new, long lasting facility that will attract new people of all ages and backgrounds to cricket/football - supporting both their physical and mental wellbeing, as well as overall community benefits.

Community impact ?

Adding this new facility to our club and improving our overall offering will have direct benefits to the local community by increasing participation in local grass roots sport. As a club we have really raised our profile in the local community over the past 21 years. Here's a few highlights on how we play a role in the community:-

- 100 cricket and social members actively involved in the club - the new nets would directly benefit our current and future junior and senior members and supporters.

- We have around 500 members that play and take part at the site doing multi sport sessions and programmes and to attract more further participation.

- In 2002 we were formed in order to deliver to the youth sports sessions on a weekly basis and still going strong more new faces attended and further progression and credibility of the organisation delivering that professional and enjoyable atmosphere. 

- The Community HUB is now to deliver to more young and old people to take part in all activities on offer and deal with bringing people together, improve health and wellbeing, help the community to grow and succeed, change lives and much more. 

- We run regular events and holiday camps in our parks to be safe and enjoyable for all to use and take part.

- Since 2002 we have worked with thousands of people who come back to volunteer  and bring their kids to the organisation and have changed many lives on and off the field.  

We're passionate about sports and want to creating a high quality facility for the Ackers community. Inspiring potential – Fulfilling dreams.

We like to thank all our supporters and sponsors naming a few The Sign Shop, Good design company, Star City Asian dining, Shake House, Edwin Ladd Photography, Prestige Limos and many more for donating REWARDS.

Some examples of what we are trying to accomplish cricket and football pitches: 

How you can play your part?

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Donate money directly to this page. Don't delay if you're going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won't need any bank details. Just a fun idea!