Clubhouse Renovation: Putney Common

Aim

We aim to create a modern and welcoming clubhouse for a year-round sports and community hub.

Who are we?

Hello - we are Putney Cricket Club and we have a dream!

We have been playing cricket on Putney Common for 155 years and have a proud history, counting England cricketing greats Sir Jack Hobbs and Jim Laker among our alumni!

Above: Putney Cricket Club Sunday XI

Now, it is time for this great old club to move forward to a brighter future that embraces every member of our community. Our dream is to renovate our clubhouse on Putney Common into a year-round sports and community hub, offering multiple sporting opportunities to our local community. 

We currently run six men’s cricket teams in summer. Additionally, we share our clubhouse with Fulham Compton Football Club, who run three men’s football teams in winter. 

We are planning to offer children’s cricket, working within current English Cricket Board (ECB) schemes, and start a women’s team in 2026. We will be hosting a ‘Festival of Women's Cricket’ in May - the first women’s cricket to be played on Putney Common in 155 years! Beyond cricket and football, we also have plans to set-up a new running club and darts league from our clubhouse.

We are actively engaging with local schools, businesses, sports clubs, and universities to enhance community cohesion in Putney and open up the opportunity to everyone in our community to use our venue to enjoy sports and recreational activities on Putney Common.

Above: Our annual charity day, hosted at the clubhouse

Why are we crowdfunding?

To achieve our dream, we need to refurbish our clubhouse to support our sports teams, open up more opportunities for participation in sports, and ultimately increase physical activity within the local community.

The clubhouse was built in 1959 and has not been updated for many years. We want to create a modern, welcoming and practical environment - a place where people can relax and socialise with other members of our community.

We aim to create a new lounge bar area and kitchen, and update changing and showering facilities. This will provide improved amenities to support the members of our sports and fitness clubs.

We want this new space to serve as the foundation to expand our existing franchise and form new sports clubs in the local area – like running and darts – and extend our cricket offerings to include children and women’s coaching. The ultimate goal is to make sports and recreational activities accessible to all in Putney, regardless of their age, gender, or background.

We will establish cricket coaching for 5-8 year old children, based at the clubhouse and utilising our pitch. This will be done in co-ordination with the established England Cricket Board course ‘All Stars Cricket’. This course centres on running, throwing, catching and batting – creating an opportunity to increase physical activity for local children, whilst learning a new game and having fun.

Our new women’s team will provide the only opportunity for women to play cricket in Putney where there is currently no women’s cricket. We will offer cricket coaching for our female community in order to improve fitness, whilst learning cricket skills such as batting, bowling and fielding. This initiative has the backing of Surrey County Cricket Club who are assisting us by initially co-hosting a four team women’s tournament on Putney Common in May.

We are also establishing a community running club operating twice a week from our clubhouse. At present, there is no organised running club that regularly operates on Putney Common. We are creating a welcoming, inclusive running club that is open to the local community, encouraging regular physical activity in a structured yet accessible way. The club will cater to mixed abilities, with group runs designed to be social, supportive, and adaptable rather than performance driven. 

Running clubs are proven to deliver benefits of enhanced physical fitness, improved mental health, reduced social isolation, and increased wellbeing, particularly when groups are inclusive and participation is framed around consistency, belonging, and mutual encouragement rather than competition. 

The location of the clubhouse on Putney Common provides the perfect space to cater to the local community. A refurbished clubhouse will provide the changing and showering facilities needed for runners, children and women’s cricket participants, as well as offering opportunities for players and their families to socialise pre- and post-sessions.

We are aiming to raise £40,000 in total, with £30,000 coming from this campaign. We hope that Sport England will match our campaign up to £15,000 and recognise this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to refurbish the clubhouse on Putney Common to open up sport and increase physical activity in the local community. This will help us to raise the funds we need faster to complete the works and turn our dream into a reality in 2026!

Above: A refurbished clubhouse will be the base for All Stars Children's Cricket.

How we’ll spend the money raised

All the money will be spent on the clubhouse refurbishment. The refurbishment will be carried out by members of Putney Cricket Club, several of whom are experienced builders and carpenters. These individuals have committed to sourcing materials and executing the necessary works. We have secured an architect within the community (commission free) to draw up plans for the clubhouse refurbishment. Additionally, the club has already engaged volunteers from its membership to assist with the works, ensuring those who benefit most from the improvements are actively involved in their delivery.

We intend to do the lion's share of the work ourselves by relying on the enthusiasm and hard work of our current members who are excited to create a new future. The money we raise from this campaign will only be spent on materials and any specialist labour we cannot do ourselves. We want to work smart, taking advantage of every opportunity to source high-quality materials at the best price available.

To make this happen, we are relying on the generosity of people like you. Donations of all sizes matter and are encouraged! Everyone who donates will have their name included on a clubhouse refurbishment notice board inside our new space.

However, for those who are able to give more, we will etch their name into club folklore forever more. Those who donate £100, £250 or £500 will have their name featured as "Bronze", "Silver" and "Gold" donors on a special honours board inside our new clubhouse.

For those who are willing to donate even more, they have an opportunity to join the prestigious "1870 Club". Named after the year in which Putney Cricket Club was founded, the 1870 Club will be an exclusive club for individuals who donate £1,000 or more. Their name will be preserved in the club's history and displayed in an entirely new section of our refurbished clubhouse celebrating the 1870 Club. They will also receive a personalised, framed, club cap to commemorate their membership of the 1870 Club.

Above: Cricket club members and keen runners outside the clubhouse, which if refurbished, will be the base for a new running club.

Community impact

Our project is all about the local community! A refurbished clubhouse will enable us to widen our franchise and open up sports and recreational activities to more people in Putney, increasing physical activity within our area.

It will enable us to offer cricket to local children and women who currently have no options to play cricket in Putney. It will enable us to establish a new welcoming, inclusive running club in the local community, and set-up a darts league.

We believe a refurbished clubhouse will improve community cohesion, physical fitness, create a sense of belonging, and improve mental wellbeing. Sport has the power to achieve all these things, and we are determined to be at the heart of sport in our community on Putney Common.

Above: Cricket on Putney Common

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. 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. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – 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!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made