Weoley Hill CC Improvements Fundraiser

Aim

Weoley Hill Cricket Club need to improve our Facilities (Cricket Practice Nets, Shower Facilities and Outfield repair work at the Oval)

Who are we?  

Weoley Hill Cricket Club are a volunteer led family and community focussed cricket club that has been a part of the Weoley Hill community since 1929. The club has been at the heart of many families for a significant period of time. We currently run 6 adult teams across Saturday and Sunday, support over 100+ Junior Members learning and developing their skills and have a vibrant social membership open to all in the community including many local residents.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Weoley Hill CC are crowdfunding to improve our facilities as the Cricket Practice Nets and the showers have got to the end of their useful life and need to be replaced, their performance is no longer consistent and they need to be replaced before they become dangerous. We have had our nets for over 15 years and our showers for longer.  Due to the significant rain fall since the start of March 2023, we have also encountered significant issues with the outfield at our recently acquired second ground. We are going to have to do a large scale end of season programme to ensure that the outfield is fit to be used for the 2024 season and beyond.

As highlighted by the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Motto 'Sport is just the beginning' - Sport is the cornerstone of Weoley Hill Cricket Club but sport develops so many other things than just the result of the game. Sport is a known method of improving a person's physical health but it is also a key part of improving people's mental health, whether that is playing or spectating. Our social members and ex players thoroughly look forward to watching the current crop of Weoley Hill CC Players play their cricket at our two grounds over the summer months and connecting socially with ex team mates, family and familiar faces from the local community.

By continually striving to improve our facilities and our offering as a community cricket club, we can look to the future by helping to inspire the next generation of budding cricketers through our very popular junior section and brand new practice facilities will certainly enable our juniors to develop their skills better than ever before.

How we’ll spend the money raised

The money we raise will be spent on improving our Cricket nets by having the artificial surface completely renovated , our showers need a full refit of tiles, shower fittings and flooring and there is important work needed on our outfield at our Oval Facility.

The renovation of the artificial surface of the practice nets is the most expensive known cost to the project of our improvements. Based on quotes that we have received this will be a low 5 figure sum in the remit of £10,000-£12,000 however until we have started the project and our chosen contractor has fully reviewed the condition below the artificial service, these costs may increase. Whilst the top surface still looks semi presentable, the issue in how they play is underneath the matting and the matting also needs to be replaced.

The renovation of the showers in the dressing rooms based on quotations received is going to be in the area of £2,500 - £5,000 depending on the cost of materials and labour at the time of the project being undertaken. As shown by the pictures below, they are in urgent need of renovation.

The work required at the Oval relating to the outfield is more difficult to quantify from a cost perspective but the more money that we have available for this project, the better position we will be in, as the costs could range from light remedial end of season work, all the way through to full removal and re implementation of the entire outfield drainage system. The club will look to provide additional funding from other avenues if our chosen contractors deem further work necessary but due to the now uneven nature of the outfield, we have significant work ahead of us to get the ground back to its initial state due to a combination of the weather in 2023 and the failure of the existing drainage at the ground. Please see the photo below to show an example of the lack of drainage, unfortunately the issues with settlement and the now uneven nature of the outfield is much harder to show on photos but is extremely evident in person. 

Community impact - How our project will be united by Birmingham 2022

The wider impact for the community if we are able to raise these funds are not to be underestimated, we want to build our own local legacy as a community sport hub inspired by the actions and the event that was Birmingham 2022 - Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth games inspired the population of the West Midlands as well as the rest of the nation and the entirety of the Commonwealth with feats of athletic strength, speed and fortitude. By looking to inspire members of Weoley Hill CC and the wider local community, we can look to enable children to start their own journey towards the Commonwealth games of the future. A number of our members enjoyed trips to Edgbaston for the T20 matches held as part of the Commonwealth games and continue to go to watch mens and womens matches held at Edgbaston developing their love for the game of cricket.  As previously mentioned, we are a hub for the local community and support a number of worthy organisations who also use our facilities and who would benefit from the improvements that we aim to complete.

 Our cricket practice net facilities are also used by both the University of Birmingham Social Cricket Team and one of the first LGBTQ+ Cricket teams in the world, the Birmingham Unicorns. Both of these teams also have access to our shower facilities so will benefit from their improvement, as will the University of Birmingham Mens Cricket Team and Cricsoc (social university cricket team) who use our ground for their matches midweek as we are one of the closest cricket clubs to the University. Please see the Unicorns and Cricsoc below.

The outfield work required at the Oval, our second ground will enable us to continue to provide a playing field for the Selly Oak Trust School, a school that supports Children with special educational needs who have used our outfield for some of their summer PE Sessions over the last few years as well as allowing our Junior cricketers to continue to play their age group league matches at the Oval allowing them to work on the skills they have learnt during their practice sessions on our hopefully soon to be renovated Cricket net practice facilities.The positive emotional boost provided by playing, practicing and socialising around new facilities combined with the additional opportunities provided to grow as a cricket club highlight just how important our necessary success for this project is.

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!

This project successfully funded on 18th August 2023