Who are we?
Tenterden Cricket Club is a historic Kent League club. The club offers cricket to all ages and abilities through Saturday league sides, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday friendly sides as well as U9's, U11's. U13's and U16's junior sides. The club is part of the local community and is expanding the amount of adult and junior cricket available.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are in desperate need of additional training facilities, especially for the many junior players of the club. Tenterden CC previously had artificial surface practice nets but they are now defunct and in need of replacement. We have gained planning permission to re-site the double bay facility to the top of the ground and this means they will be useable when a game is being played. Not only will they be a valuable resource to the organised training sessions at the club, but they will encourage the juniors to come and practice at other times. The club wants to bring the junior players (the clubs future) closer to the senior sides and provide more facilities for the community.
The site of the old nets has been defunct for many years. It doesn't meet the ECB requirements, it can't be used while a game is being played and has drainage issues. The cost of replacing the old nets in the same place would be higher than the new location and wouldn't be available to use a lot of the time.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The money raised through Crowdfunder will all go towards the cost of the installation of this new facility. We have gained the support of Sport England who will match funding up to £10,000 pounds as well as gaining a grant from Kent Capital Sports Grants. The club is installing an England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) approved net system with a durable base and professional standard surfaces that will serve the club for many years. The total cost of the project will be in excess of £30,000 pounds. Below is an illustration of the type of practice facility we are looking to install.
Community impact
Tenterden Cricket Club has been expanding the junior section of the club for the last couple of years. We now have over 80 junior players at training on a Sunday mornings and these nets will give the opportunity to coach better batting and bowling technique. Tenterden Cricket Club is a community amateur sports club (CASC) and is run by volunteers. The club wants to grow and continue to offer high quality coaching to the young people of Tenterden and surrounding villages. The club is picturesque and we welcome all members of the local community to enjoy the club either as a playing member, a volunteer or purely to watch a good game of cricket.
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!