Stroud Cricket Club Covid-19 Fundraising

Aim

With income hit for six by Covid-19, we're raising £10,000 to ensure we continue providing excellent cricket facilities for our community

A little bit about us

Stroud Cricket Club (SCC) is one of Gloucestershire’s longest-standing sports clubs, founded in 1850 and active ever since. The club intends to be part of the local fabric for a further 170 years, too!  SCC provides cricket training, coaching and matches across every spectrum of society, with the Club Constitution expressly requiring a totally inclusive approach to sporting participation, social interaction and community-spiritedness.

SCC is delighted to host regular County and District matches, spanning Youth, Women’s, Disabled and Adult categories.   In 2019 we were proud to step-in to cover the U19 T20 Blast finals day when the County Ground was unavailable!

SCC is a key supporter of the Five Valleys Walk, a large charity event organised by Stroud-based Meningitis Now. The club is the main start and finish point for the walk, offering extensive car parking, food and beverages and First Aid facilities.

SCC is proud to provide an excellent venue for many regular local community activities. The club hosts baby and toddler groups, regular skittles league matches and even dog training!  In addition, the SCC pavilion offers room for bigger one-off events such as weddings, birthday parties and corporate days. Attendees are always delighted with the setting and service, delivered at amazing value.  We don't regard these events solely as vital contributions to the club’s income, but as opportunities for local individuals and businesses to share in the enjoyment of the fine facilities.

 “We had an absolutely wonderful evening!”: Dursley Dolphins Swimming Club

“It was absolutely amazing. All the staff were brilliant”: Kristy, wedding bride

“It was brilliant, Katy had a great time”: Hft, charity supporting learning disabilities

What we’re asking and how everyone can help

Like every individual, family, business and sports club across the UK, SCC is battling hard against the economic effects of Covid-19.  The club hasn’t served a pint since early March, nor asked members to pay annual subs for a season that hasn’t started. All the bookings in our pavilion have had to be cancelled.

The hard-working Committee of volunteers has done everything possible in recent months to reduce costs and apply for all available grants. However, as the summer continues to tick away and the chance of playing cricket this year ebbs with it (along with the prospect of any much needed subscriptions, bar income or pavilion bookings), SCC has to take steps to ensure it can continue to support and invest in cricket for its wide range of members, as well as maintain the facilities that many non-cricketers in the local community rely on.

SCC has set a target of raising a minimum of £10,000 through crowdfunding. This will go a long way to covering cashflow lost during Covid-19 to date, and provide the resources necessary to be “ready for action” - for all our members, community partners, customers and friends - as soon as the pandemic has receded.

To support the crowdfunding SCC has put together a wide array of rewards, intended to provide something of interest and value to everyone in the local community, whether interested in cricket or otherwise!  Details of those follow in the next section.

Very importantly, SCC are delighted to have been approved by Sport England for their “Active Together” fund-match scheme.  When the club reaches half of its target (£5,000), Sport England will rocket-boost efforts by doubling what has been raised!  This would, of course, make a huge difference to the club, but we very much have to do our bit first.

Offering something for everyone

The first set of rewards should appeal to everyone - irrespective of whether you're interested in cricket or not!

• Throw a kids’ cricket party.  Hire our pavilion and ground for three hours on a weekday afternoon or evening and we will dedicate the services of one of our ECB qualified coaches and use of our softball equipment to ensure up to 25 children have the best of days.  Reward cost: £100
• Shake, rattle and roll.  Enjoy an evening of traditional skittles, food and a libation or two...  Perfect for a works night out or a group of friends and family (20 people), we’ll provide the alley, a licensed bar and a simple buffet - plus the “sticker” to put the pins back up!  Reward cost: £50
• Party, party, party.  Birthdays, anniversaries, awards night, all will go with a real swing in the pavilion.  With a fully-stocked and manned licensed bar, plenty of indoor and outdoor space to configure as you please and lots of car parking for the designated drivers, 150 people (more or less, depending upon the precise set-up) can enjoy a cracking night out at this discounted rate.  Reward cost: £100
• Catch the cricketing bug. You have heard of cricket, right?  Over a billion people around the world enjoy the game, and right now England are World Champions! Still not sure you really know much about cricket? Then this is perfect for you. Groups of up to six people - family groups, school friends, work colleagues, of any age, experience and ability - will be introduced to the basics of the game of cricket in a two-hour introductory taster session run by one of our ECB qualified coaches.  All equipment will be provided.  Reward cost: £100
• Sing and swing like a monkey.  Does your toddler or pre-school child have a birthday coming up?  Have you got a special occasion at which the small people need entertaining?  FunkyMunky Music provides an alternative to organising lots of games, with a personalised programme of 10-12 songs chosen from an extensive list of favourites.  Puppets and props are used for each musical activity and of course there will be a storm of bubbles to finish up with! Invite up to 25 children.  Reward cost: £65
• Create a vision for your garden.  Courtesy of the wonderful Stroud Garden Services, get a full 3D garden design package with ideas and concepts to create your perfect outdoor space. Worth £150 alone, you will also get a 10% discount on any estimate for further work. Reward cost: £100

Naturally any dates for rewards will be booked subject to availability - and only once we can safely re-open!

For those of a more corporate persuasion, our second set of rewards should appeal to all local businesses looking to develop and promote their firm in a relaxed and enjoyable setting:

• Chills and thrills. With 17 home fixtures to choose from (a special one separated below…), enjoy an indulgent afternoon (including tea and fizz), with your business publicised on SCC’s social media platforms.  Usually this package is for two guests but, as a thank you, SCC will extend that to six!  Reward cost: £120
• Get your name in lights.  A professional, pitch-side sponsor’s board, seen by thousands of visitors every year, along with social media exposure across SCC’s channels. Renewal for a subsequent year is usually £200 but, as thank you, the second year will be free!  Reward cost: £250
• Stumped for a team building day to remember?  Look no further than Stroud Cricket Club.  One of our ECB qualified coaches will be on hand to provide fun and inclusive cricket-based break-out activities to fit your schedule throughout the day.  Indoors we can offer plenty of space for classroom-style sessions and/or small group team working.  Teas, coffees and a buffet lunch will all be included, as well as use of our skittle alley and access to a cash bar if you wish to extend the day into the early evening.  We would normally leave the "business" sessions of the day to be run by your own team, but by negotiation we may be able to persuade our highly experienced Chairman to come out of retirement and offer his services as a world class facilitator for a very nominal fee. Reward cost: £750
• Bowl your clients over on Derby Day. An afternoon watching cricket is a brilliant opportunity for networking and catching up with business friends and contacts. Stroud v Frocester is the grudge match of the season and 2021 is due to be the first time it has taken place at SCC's home ground in over 15 years. We will be pulling out all the stops to make it a day to remember.  We will supply a cricket tea and a glass of fizz to all your guests (up to 25), and will throw in a 10% discount on the bar if you choose to run a tab.  Reward cost: £450
• Energise your business.  Centaur Advisors will conduct a thorough strategic diagnostic of your business and identify key opportunities for growth and improvement.  Their vastly experienced founder (https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-collins-89b51110/) will devote up to five days at a fraction of the usual project rate.  Reward cost: £1,000

The third reward is to purchase a bar token, which can be used at SCC’s licensed bar at any time, once it is allowed to open.  These can be bought by anyone who frequents the club (spectators on match days, skittles players, cricketers, guests at events), with both options including a Brucey-bonus top-up:

• Buy a bar token for £20, but get £25 of credit
• Buy a bar token for £50, but get £65 of credit

And finally, members can take advantage of paying their 2021 subs in advance, at 2020 rates – and if SCC does get to play some cricket later this summer, membership for the 2020 season will also be covered. Ladies are £20, Youth (including a playing shirt) are £65 and Men are £100, all including a ticket for the end-of-season presentation evening (for other regular types of membership, please check with the Secretary first at [email protected]).  When selecting the reward please “top-up” the amount to the correct membership rate, and if paying for different family members please do each separately and note the name in the comments box.

SCC would of course be very grateful to anyone able to make an additional donation, using the box at the top right of this page. As a CASC, the club will be able to claim an additional 25% Gift Aid contribution from the Government, if the donor fills in the relevant details.

Proud to be Stroud

Many thanks for taking the time to read this. Every person involved with SCC hopes you’ll agree it’s a fantastic opportunity for us all to support the club.  We trust that everyone will feel “Proud to be Stroud”, playing their part in ensuring the club can prosper and continue to serve all its community, as these difficult times begin to ease.

This project successfully funded on 13th August 2020