Wolviston Cricket Club crowd funder appeal

Aim

We aim to raise monies to replace the lost revenue from the 2020 cricket season especially the annual Sportsman’s dinner which was cancelled

What has caused the problem ? 

The pandemic has hit the cricket club finances very hard. The costs of playing cricket at Wolviston are high. In 2019 we paid out just under £13000 which included £6847 for ground expenses, umpires fees of £2946 and sports equipment including cricket balls of £1511. Income from subscriptions & match fees totalled £4742 leaving a deficit of £8228.
The deficit is normally paid for by the annual Sportsman’s Dinner held in November.

As a result of COVID we only managed to play cricket from July 2020 (the season normally starts in April) but more crucially the Sportsman’s Dinner had to be cancelled. The loss of the dinner was just over £10600. The worry is that at worst there may not be any future dinners due to the pandemic but even if dinners are held, then the people able to attend may be restricted. If the numbers are restricted then the income raised will also be restricted.

How much do we want to raise?

Our aim is to raise through the crowd funder a total of £10000  to replace the monies lost due to covid including  the Sportsman dinner. This will be made up, hopefully, of donations of £6000 and matched by £4000 from Sport England. Sport England will only pay if the whole £10000 is raised. The donation amount of £6000 must also be raised by at least 50 individual supporters otherwise Sport England will not pay.

Brief history of the Club

 Wolviston Cricket Club was formed in 1884.The original founders and players were a mixture of largely farmers and market gardeners .The aim was to provide cricket to the community and this has remained one of the main aims with current players coming from Billingham, Wolviston, Wynyard, Stockton,Middlesbrough and Hartlepool . The club has played at various grounds in its history but finally settled at Armstrong Park on Wynyard Road, Billingham (on the outskirts of Wolviston and Wynyard ) since 1974. The ground was named after Harry Armstrong , who not only played very successfully for the Club but was also groundsman and Committee man for many years. He was instrumental in helping make the Club what it is today .

The Club play in the North Yorkshire & South Durham Premier Cricket League with 3 senior teams ( approximately 50 players ) and 5 junior teams ( approximately 50 players ). The 1st team play in Division 1 and the 2nd team in Division 3 on a Saturday and the 3rd team in the Sunday Premier division.

The Club has been a member of the NYSD since 1997 and has had varied success. The  highlight was promotion to the Premier division in 2002 after winning Division one for 2 consecutive years. The Club also take part in the prestigious National Village competition annually where the final is played at Lords cricket ground. The Club have reached 2 semi finals but unfortunately never made it to the final.

More about the Club and its effects on the community

The Club was named NYSD Club of the Year in 2017, an accolade, given the relative size of the club and its resources.
Although the Club draws its players from a wide area, there are also areas of social deprivation within these areas. The Club is proud to say that all players are welcome regardless of gender, race, culture and back ground. We have been here providing sport for 136 years and we want to be doing the same for the next 136 years.

The Club has a thriving junior section with teams from under 11,12,13,15 and under 17’s. The junior section is, and has been, vital to the Club with many of its players going on to play currently in all of the senior teams with numerous players playing for Cleveland County, 2 players progressing to the Durham Academy, and one player playing for Yorkshire seconds. The Club are proud of their reputation of allowing juniors to play in senior cricket as soon as they have the ability.

Most of the junior players come from the local schools - Redhouse, Northfield, Wolviston, Bede Sixth Form College and the local primary schools. Training is carried out by qualified coaches during the period January to September, initially indoors then weather permitting outdoors. The Club have invested heavily in outdoor nets to aid the coaches.

The Club also have the services of Mark Davies, ex Professional Durham County and Kent cricketer, who not only plays for the Club but coaches as well. Mark not only coaches the juniors but also visits the local schools to provide cricketing coaching.

The aim of the Club is to increase the coaching staff and also the junior section.
The Club have  kept close contacts with the local schools and have also been asked to  hold representative games on behalf of Cleveland County schools. The Club also host  annually Kwik cricket for the Cleveland area.

The Club has also hired its ground out to various organisations to hold cricket matches. These include local businesses, farmers and doctors to name a few.

The Club’s committee run the day to day business and comprise of 16 volunteers who give their time free and for the good of the Club. Wolviston CC would not exist if it was not for their hard work and time in the upkeep of the ground and preparation of wickets, treasurer work, secretarial work, organising the Sportsman’s Dinner, to cleaning the pavilion especially with the very strict protocols required by Covid.

What the Club needs the funds for ? 

The pandemic has affected everyone including Wolviston Cricket Club. We need the crowdfunder to be successful to help safeguard the finances and future of the Club and to ensure there will be cricket available to the local community. We have been here for 136 years and we plan to be here for the next 136 years.

The crowd funder would also allow us to help expand the Club’s membership to continue to provide players for its 3 senior teams and 5 junior teams.

There are also several projects that the Club want to carry out as a matter of urgency to assist with Covid and social distancing requirements.

These include building a large patio area in front of the pavilion and increasing the seating around the ground to improve the facilities for players, members and spectators  if restrictions continue in the long term.

With all this in mind we need the help of the community to help us through this pandemic and make the crowdfunder a success. We are therefore asking the community, Club members, players, supporters, residents and businesses to help in whatever way they can with donations (however small or large).

Any help in spreading the word would also be appreciated by word of mouth or social media.

Please use our reward scheme

The Club and Club supporters are kindly providing rewards for donations and pledges. Please keep an eye on the rewards as we will be adding to them as often as we can.

This project successfully funded on 2nd March 2021