West Hallam White Rose CC Practice Nets Project

Aim

The purpose of this project is to build a two lane practice facility to enable the senior and junior members and community at large to use.

The Cricket Club

West Hallam White Rose Cricket club was established in 1880, providing facilities for the local community for over 140 years. Over the years thousands of people have passed through our doors to either play or watch cricket, or to attend the numerous events held throughout the year.

We have two senior teams playing in the Derbyshire County League, plus a rapidly expanding junior section including mixed and girls teams.

The club has become an integral part of the community, with the annual bonfire being a particular favourite attended by a large proportion of the local population. Numerous tribute acts, Beerkeller nights and the now annual music festival make the clubhouse a very vibrant and lively place. Lots of private hire parties also bring new people to the club. Many local charities are supported by our events, such as Friends of the Baby Unit at Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Breast Cancer Support Group and Bowel Cancer UK.

COVID 19 Impact

The pandemic has had a massive effect on the club. Playing cricket was not allowed for some time, then in a much changed environment. The bar takings and events at the club house are the lifeblood of our income. Whilst our sponsors continued with their amazing support, we calculated a loss of income in the region of £50,000. This has severely impacted on our plans for improvements around the ground, with the practice nets being the biggest of our planned projects.

The Future

In 2021 the club bounced back with the easing of restrictions, doing our best to make up on lost time. The first team won promotion and the junior section has seen a massive increase in numbers, hopefully providing first team players of the future and who knows, even the next Ben Stokes.

With the current practice nets being a rickety old metal frame that is rolled on to the pitch, the decision was made to build a permanent structure. The new nets will give us a state of the art facility to ECB standards, allowing the seniors and more importantly the juniors to practice and receive coaching. It is also our plan to invite local schools or youth movements like the scouts and guides to use the facility.

The crowd funding project is one of the fund raising activities planned for 2022. Other activities include :

• Six a side football tournament of local cricket clubs
• Trip to Nottingham Dog racing
• Past players V present players match
• Annual Bonfire and Fireworks night
• Music Festival
• Junior Fun Day

So there will be lots of fun ways to get involved and hopefully realise our dream of having a practice facility to be proud of.

Thank you for your continued support

This project successfully funded on 28th April 2022