Funding to combat the impact of COVID-19 on KECC

Aim

Your support will help secure the financial survival of a friendly community club, and help us invest in future improvements.

Welcome to the KECC Crowdfunder. 

KIDMORE END CRICKET CLUB 157 YEARS IN THE COMMUNITY

Affiliated to Berkshire CCC & the ECB. We hold ECB ClubMark status and have an appointed Child Welfare Officer endorsing our work in the safeguarding of children. 

We pride ourselves on being a diverse and inclusive cricket club with a strong focus on family, fun & friendship. We provide junior cricket starting with All Stars, have four senior Saturday teams playing in the Thames Valley Cricket League, Sunday friendly fixtures and a midweek T20 side. We are pleased to offer accessible inclusive cricket for all ages and abilities. 

Our ground at Gallowstree Common is one of the most idyllic in the region with a recently completed new pavilion. The ground is kept by a tireless group of volunteers of all ages and is a great testament to their hard work.

KIDMORE END CRICKET CLUB IN THE COMMUNITY (more than just cricket)

Following the closure of the local pub, this summer KECC opened our doors to the local community providing families and friends a safe place to play, drink, eat and most importantly have fun during a difficult summer.  

With help and funding to improve the facilities we aim to play an ever growing role in the provision of sport and leisure in the community.  

THE PAVILION BAR, A PLACE FOR THE COMMUNITY TO ENJOY

Understanding the impact COVID-19 was having on people and their mental health following lockdown we opened "THE PAVILION BAR" to the community. The aim was to provide a place for everyone to safely enjoy themselves with friends and family. The club delivered a safe cashless outdoor bar with app ordering and top class food vendors. The bar also helped local food vendors during a summer with no festivals and events running. No pitch fees were charged as we saw the benefits of people being able to leave the house for some great food. This initiative has exposed us to the wider community and helped raise our profile.

BRINGING CRICKET BACK TO CROWMARSH GIFFORD & WALLINGFORD

This season saw cricket return to Crowmarsh Gifford recreation ground for the first time in 5 years. The clubs 3rd and new this year 4th teams play at this lovely ground every Saturday. Having not been used for a number of years the club set to work in January painting the sight screen and setting to work on the square. The lower teams are a vital part of the club seeing junior players transition to senior cricket.

Bringing cricket back to an area where a handful of clubs have folded in recent years is something we are very proud of. It is the aim of KECC to use the ground on Sundays for both senior and junior cricket. 

Taking on a second ground to provide cricket for more players does come at a cost. We have invested in professional end of season renovation and repairs to the square at just under £2000. In a season so drastically impacted this was very hard to fund. However it is vital to improve all the playing facilities if we are to survive and grow.

JUNIOR CRICKET AT KIDMORE END CC

The junior section is the life blood of our cricket club. This year saw us deliver 10 weeks of junior cricket on Mondays. Tuesdays and Friday evening to over 80 children. All coaching was provided by volunteers from the clubs senior section as well as parents. 

Boys and girls ages 4 and above start with ECB All Stars and move up the age groups to eventually start playing in the senior teams. One of the main reasons behind crowdfunding to help us against the loss of revenue caused by COVID-19 is to improve the practice nets. Nets play a vital role in children improving their techniques and preparing for games. Our aim is to provide the very best possible facilities for the children to learn, grow and have fun.

PLAYER CROWDFUNDING & DIGITAL INNOVATION

As a small cricket club in a South Oxfordshire leafy hamlet we are always looking for ways to attract new players and much needed sponsorship to keep the club running. Late this summer one such opportunity arose, it is called FrogBox. 

FrogBox is a way of live streaming club cricket to the internet for anyone anywhere in the world to enjoy. The players were so enthused at the thought of being able to watch their performances on TV they started a crowdfunding page and raised the money in a week. Fingers crossed this appeal is as successful (it will be with your support).

Aside from the obvious advantages to the players as a club we see this as a vital tool to raise yearly sponsorship revenue and increase our digital footprint.

You can read the whole story here : KECC & Frogbox  

AROUND THE BOUNDARY - FUNDRAISING & CHARITY EVENT

This year would have been the third and biggest year for our joint charity fundraising and community event "Around the Boundary". Sadly the global COVID-19 pandemic meant we were forced to cancel. This was heartbreaking for the volunteers planning and running the event.  

The aim of Around the Boundary is to raise much needed funds for two local charities Kidmore End Cricket Club and The Chris Bevington Foundation.

Jeff Sheldon, Kidmore End Cricket Chairman & Organiser said of Around The Boundary ‘I’m very excited to have such great foodies and musicians at the cricket club for a cause that’s so close and important to us. It’s all about building for the community and continued provision of a top class sports and leisure destination’

Local resident Jez Felwick runs The Bowler Meatballs food truck and is curating the food at the event. Jez is excited to be working on a community focused event which has ambition, quality & a wide appeal, as it will be a key fundraiser for local charities, as well as a new charity he is involved in setting up called The Chris Bevington Foundation.

Chris Bevington, was the British man who was tragically killed in the Stockholm Terror Attack on 7th April 2017. Jez was Chris's best man and is the godfather to one of his sons. He worked for Spotify and loved music. The Chris Bevington Foundation is a charity set up in his name by his friends and family. We raise & distribute our funds to improve the lives of young people through the positive power of music. We are currently funding existing projects with youth/music charities. These include Reading charity Readipop, as well as Brighton based Rhythmix & Audioactive. We hope to be developing our own CBF projects with them if our fundraising is a success.

The event supports local artists, food vendors, producers and brewers giving them the opportunity to showcase their talents alongside some of the biggest names in the music business. 

We hope to be back for 2021 to have a much needed party with the local community and beyond...watch this space. 

WHY ARE WE CROWDFUNDING & WHAT FOR?

Sadly, the Coronavirus crisis has hit the Club hard. The cricket club and all it’s activities are funded solely through memberships, match fees, donations, the profit it makes from the bar and fundraising events.

Due to COVID-19 we only played half a season in 2020. We were not able to run our annual charity music festival "Around the Boundary" or any of our normal fundraising events which are a vital lifeline for the club. We also saw massive reductions in match fees (£4000) and subscription revenues (£4275) compared to a full season but sadly no reduction in expenditure to run the club. Had we been able to run the bar for six months we could have potentially raised another £8,000. COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the clubs ability to fund much needed improvement projects, we had planned to help ensure the sustainability of the club. With no events looking likely in the near future or grants to cover what we have lost we are crowdfunding to secure the future of the club and make these improvements happen.

WHAT THE CLUB MEMBERS THINK

OUR PROPOSED PROJECTS

PROJECTS WE ARE LOOKING TO FUND

Practice net refurbishment to benefit the junior and senior sections

Extra junior coaching equipment & balls

New sight screens for Gallowstree Common (main ground)

Covers for Crowmarsh Gifford (3s & 4s ground)

Vital running repairs to our ground machinery

Pressure washer to keep everything clean 

Projector & TV for main room to watch live streamed club matches and aid coaching

SPORT ENGLAND & ADDITIONAL FUNDING

We hope to gain some additional funding from Sport England which generously supports similar fund raising campaigns for clubs like ours following the impact of COVID-19.

All donations of any size are massively appreciated and much needed. Thanks so much for taking the time to read about why we are crowdfunding and thanks for your support. 

This project successfully funded on 29th December 2020