Cricket school works to enable more community use

Aim

To refurbish our indoor cricket school so that it can be used as a multi-sports hall for a variety of activities by the local community.

Who we are

Chingford Cricket Club is a registered Community Amateur Sports Club. We are an integral part of the Chingford community having been in existence since 1884. We provide the community with opportunities for recreation, coaching and competition in a friendly and social environment. As well as 4 senior teams playing in the Essex Hamro league, we have a Sunday team and junior teams at U9, U11, U13, U15, U16 and U19. This year for the first time, we were also able to enter a girls team into some cricket tournaments. We run the ECB 'All Stars' programme for 5-8 year olds and Dynamos Cricket for boys and girls aged 8-11. 

Why are we crowdfunding?

The cricket school was last refurbished in 2003. The flooring is now worn in several places. The roof leaks every time it rains and with no heating and poor insulation, the resulting condensation makes the floor slippery and dangerous.

We are applying for major grants to get the existing roof replaced and install suitable heating but need extra funding to replace the old and worn cricket school flooring with more versatile multi-sports flooring and a retractable cricket netting system. The current nets are fixed in place with cable ties and need to be rolled up by hand and hooked out of the way. This takes two people about 15 minutes to complete so it is not easy to change the function of the hall from one activity to another. Here you can see the cable ties holding the existing nets in place and the insulation falling through the false ceiling.

We want to replace the existing worn flooring with new, multi-sports flooring  to make the hall more suitable to use for other activities. Here you can see where the existing surface is worn and shiny and has lost its grip.

We treat the floor with anti-slip treatments to try and keep it safe, but the safest option is to replace the floor completely.

Community use

The cricket school is currently unused during the day most weekdays, so we want to make it available for the local community to use for exercise classes and other sports, such as Walking Football again.

 If we reach our target of £10,000 for this appeal Sport England will match fund with another £4,000, which enable us to pay for the works.

How our project has been united by Birmingham 2022

We have attracted more girls to play cricket at the club off the back of the Womens' T20 tournament held during the Commonwealth Games for the first time. We have extended our Girls Dynamos Cricket programme and for the first time ever were able to enter a girls team in a local Softball competition. We've experienced an upsurge in interest in girls cricket as a result of the Womens' T20  competition at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and hope to extend the club's female section further, but really need decent facilities, including an attractive and welcoming cricket school to both attract and retain the girls that join us.

Community impact

Our cricket school has already been used by a local community group for Walking Football for the over 50's but because of the worn surface on the concrete flooring it is not really suitable in its current condition. 

With new multi-sport flooring, heating and better insulation, the cricket school will be a much nicer sports hall for the community to use for exercise classes, aerobics, Zumba and other activities like Walking Football or carpet bowls every weekday.

How we'll spend the money raised

We'll use all of the money raised from this Crowdfunder appeal to help meet the costs of the cricket school refurbishment. We will install new multi-sport flooring to make the cricket school usable as a multi-sport hall and install a new retractable netting system.

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. Create a fundraiser of your own. Use the button on our page to get started. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

This project successfully funded on 31st March 2023