Who are we?
We are Milton Keynes Cricket Club, a local grassroots sports club that has been a key part of our community for over 150 years. Based in Milton Keynes Village, we are passionate about bringing people together through cricket. Our club offers opportunities for players of all ages and abilities, fostering teamwork, sportsmanship, and a love for the game. With a variety of teams, including youth, developmental and senior, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.
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Why are we crowdfunding?
As a community-based club, we rely on the generosity of our members, sponsors, and supporters to maintain and improve our facilities. Unfortunately, our current heavy roller - a vital piece of equipment for preparing the pitch - stopped working 2 years ago. Despite various attempts at fixing it, the roller is still not operational. Without a functioning heavy roller, we we are unable to properly prepare the pitch for play, which means we have to pay expensive rates to hire one or face unsafe playing conditions and, ultimately, games being cancelled.
To continue providing a top-tier cricketing experience for our players and ensure we can host matches throughout the season, we need to purchase a new heavy roller. This is where we need your help. By contributing to our crowdfunder, you’ll be directly helping to improve the quality of our pitches, ensuring safer playing conditions, and supporting the future of cricket in our community.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The funds raised through this crowdfunding campaign will go directly towards the purchase of a new heavy roller for the club. This equipment is essential for maintaining a level, firm pitch that is safe for all players, from juniors to seniors. The new roller will cost approximately £8k-£12k, plus we will need to purchase a 10ft container to store it securely. This is because our old shed had to be demolished by the council due to asbestos. We expect the container to cost around £3k including delivery.
Any additional funds raised will be put towards maintaining our facilities and supporting the operational costs of the club.
Community impact
Investing in a new heavy roller is not just an investment in our cricket pitch — it’s an investment in the community. A new roller will help us provide:
- Better Playing Conditions: A well-maintained pitch ensures a safer and more enjoyable game for all players. This will help reduce injuries and provide a higher standard of play, benefiting both juniors and adults.
- Increased Participation in Cricket: With a quality pitch, we can attract more players, coaches, and volunteers, helping the club grow and allowing more people to get involved in cricket. This is especially important for our youth teams, as we aim to provide opportunities for the next generation of cricketers.
- Youth Engagement & Development: A new heavy roller means that we can continue to offer high-quality cricket opportunities for young players. As they develop their skills, they gain confidence, discipline, and teamwork that will benefit them in all areas of life.
- Sustainability of the Club: A functioning roller ensures that our club can continue to host matches throughout the season without cancellations, and is a much better use of the clubs money in the long run compared to hiring rollers every year.
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!