Who we are & what we do

Highfield Cricket Club was established in the late 19th century but following a bequeathment of land from a local colliery owner, the club moved to the current ground on Billinge Road, Wigan, in 1924, so Highfield CC will start to celebrate its centenary in just a few months time, 2024. 

The club prides itself on being at the heart of the community, providing both

 sporting and social opportunities for young and older alike. In excess of 6,000 individuals use the ground each year with many of them enjoying our outdoor facilities on multiple occasions.

Community Engagement To Date

Our engagement with our community is truly two way, indeed such that in late 2020, we reached out to that community and ran our very first crowdfunding campaign to install a brand new drainage system for our ground. Thanks to your generosity and the Active Together Fund from Sport England, we exceeded our £20,000 target. The project was completed in 2021 and enabled a transformational improvement, allowing us to use our beautiful ground even more throughout the season for games and training, as well as community events.

The club is very proud of the impact it makes in our community and just a few weeks ago on 7th October 2023, was awarded “Sports Club of the year” for the whole of Wigan Borough.  It was clear that the judging panel recognised the sustained positive impact of our club on the following:

• 6 junior teams who train and play weekly
• 3 senior teams who train and play weekly

• Representative junior teams (both Wigan and Lancashire) who use our ground and facilities
• All stars (5 to 8 year old children's introduction to cricket)

• Large groups of spectators who watch and enjoy cricket for free every week

• Opportunities for volunteering on the ground, improving health and well being.
• The local community who attend our large scale outdoor events such as Family Funday and Bonfire Night.

What Community Help Do We Need Now?

Our volunteer coaches work very hard developing the techniques and skills (and fun) needed for our juniors and seniors to improve their game. Unfortunately, our practice facilities on our ground need refurbishment with one of our three astro turf lanes needing replacement, along with a general repair of netting and surrounds to ensure safety for all.

We also need to raise money to complete a much needed refurbishment of our scorebox and digital upgrade of our old analogue scoreboard as we are unable to source replacement parts when it fails.

This year, 2023, has been financially difficult for our club due to the very late cancellation of our Family Funday due to the unseasonal deluge in August which even our fabulous drainage couldn't remove quickly enough, meaning that planned funds for this project were not generated.

Help Us To Deliver A Legacy

To make our project a reality, we need your help to raise the remaining £20k funding ahead of the new year so we can complete the refurbishment and upgrade of our facilities well ahead of the 2024 season, our centenary year.

Exactly 100 years ago, our ground was created by the local colliery workers, working on land generously bequeathed by the mine owners, the Blundell family. And in May 1924, the first game was played on the ground. 

It would be fantastic if our community could rise again to the challenge and support us, as we seek to ensure we have the facilities in place to help sustain Highfield Cricket Club well beyond our centenary. What a legacy that would be, and what a party we can then have at the end of May 2024, our planned Community Day, when all will be welcome!

There are 4 simple ways where you could help us deliver our legacy project;

• Make a pledge or purchase a reward
• Spread the word by sharing the fundraising campaign on your personal social media so it reaches the biggest audience. The more people we reach the more support we will get
• Offer a reward or recommend a business you may know to donate a reward and support our campaign. We will give you a shout-out! That includes all those fabulous individuals and businesses who have already offered rewards, with others planned to be introduced during the crowdfunder campaign.
• If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, just press the “Start Fundraising” button. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Or you can run the fundraiser separately and simply donate the money via this crowdfunder.