Winnington Park CC - Artificial Practice Facility

Aim

We are looking to replace our old artificial practice facility with a new two lane facility, to benefit our membership & local community.

Introduction

Thanks for visiting Winnington Park Cricket Club's Crowdfunder page!

2020 was a tough year for the club and it's members due to Covid-19 disrupting society as we know it. The summer of cricket became the half summer of cricket, resulting in a lack of play, and a loss of revenue for the club through membership fees, bar revenue and club events being cancelled due to Government guidelines. Despite a healthy recovery to many revenue streams in 2021, the club still has a shortfall in it's finances, based on the impact of Covid-19. We are now at a crucial point in time where we need to upgrade our artificial practice facility ahead of Summer 2022, and we hope our members, supporters and local community can help us raise the necessary funds to allow this to happen.

Please read the below outlining our vision, our story (the background), what this project would mean for the club and community (the future/results), and our plan to deliver this project.

The Vision

Our vision is to have a new, state of the art, two lane artificial practice facility built on site at Winnington Park Recreation Club, in time for April 2022.

The Background

Cricket has been played at Winnington Park Cricket Club since the 1880's (history of WPCC), but today, the club boasts three senior teams (approx. 35 senior members), three junior teams (approx. 50 junior members) and approximately 20 social members. 

The club has always invested the majority of its time and money into junior cricket. The future of the game rests with the new generations, and this has been reflected in the success of Winnington's junior teams and the number of players who have progressed from junior to senior cricket at Winnington Park CC, and beyond. 

[**WPCC First XI 2021 - Nine of the 14 men in this photo came through the clubs junior setup**]

In recent years, the club has also been proactive in investing time and money in it's facilities, but in order for the club to move further forward, the biggest piece of the puzzle needs addressing urgently.

The club's current artificial practice facility has been in position since 1996, but in recent years it has deteriorated at a rapid rate (see images below).

Over the last 10 years, the cricket club's committee have done their very best to maintain and repair the facility (see images below), to allow practice to continue. However, it has got to the stage where; 1) the club are struggling to further develop players using the current facility. 2) The facility is becoming unsafe for practice due to an inconsistent pace and bounce. 3) The facility does not meet the standard of the rest of the club, and thus give a fair representation to aid recruitment in the community. And 4) the quality of practice is being hampered as a result of low attendances at practice sessions, which occurs due to points 1 & 2.

As you can see above, we are using two 'roll-on' cages on top of the current artificial surfaces. This is because the static cage that was in position with this facility had to be taken down for safety reasons in 2017. Although the roll-on cages have done a job, this setup is not as safe as it could be due to the length of the cages, and the risk that presents to the bowlers when the ball is struck back in their direction.

The Future/Results

A new artificial practice facility would mean a lot to Winnington Park Cricket Club, it's current membership and the local community.

Firstly, it would help Winnington Park CC become more sustainable; offering a state of the art facility that could be used to enthuse and develop existing members, and attract new ones.

For our playing members, a new facility would have a direct effect on the quality of practice - with greater attendances at weekly sessions, and allowing the club to support players to reach their full potential by developing them on a reliable/safe surface. A new facility would also see increased usage throughout the Spring/Summer months, with extra sessions taking place on top of the clubs weekly sessions.

Furthermore, we have the desire to invest more time and resource into our growing junior setup, and a new artificial training facility would aid this process. We currently have a group of gifted and talented junior members, and as stated above, the current facility is not enabling them to reach their full potential.

We also want to see more junior players from the local community joining the club, and more of them transitioning from softball (U9) to hardball cricket (U11) in the coming years. The latter will rely on a reliable artificial surface, and an aesthetically appealing practice area.

The importance of a facility that 'looks good' cannot be understated. Our current facility is not aesthetically pleasing, and this is a hindrance to us in being able to attract new members to the club, and convince people to give cricket a go at Winnington Park.

Winnington Village has undergone development over the last eight years, with a number of housing developers building homes, and businesses taking on commercial units. The cricket club hope to further engage with our community and local businesses, and would see the new artificial practice facility as a major selling point to them.

A new artificial practice facility would also give the club confidence to pursue other areas of growth in the future, such as women's cricket.

The Plan

The Cricket Club are very close to raising the necessary funds to make this project happen, but having had a range of fundraising events cancelled during the past 18 months due to Covid-19, we hope Crowdfunder can help us cross the finish line!

We have acquired quotes for the work from England & Wales Cricket Board suppliers of approved systems, and the total cost for the minimum viable product comes in at £24,500 + VAT. The cricket club's committee have committed up to £18,000 of club funds to make the 'dream become a reality', but this still leaves us needing to raise in the region of £8,000 - £10,000 more to allow this project happen in time for April 2022. We believe this is a realistic target, and by using Crowdfunder we hope to appeal to our membership, the local community and other funding bodies who will hopefully see a project worth supporting. The club will also look to run additional fundraising initiatives to ensure the best possible facility can be installed at the ground.

How you can help Winnington Park Cricket Club

There are a number of ways in which you can help support this project;

• Crowdfund - pledge donations however big or small! Every pound counts!
• Spread the word - to your family and friends, via social media, in schools and with local businesses
• Run your own fundraiser - and donate the money you raise through our Crowdfunder (e.g. sponsored walks / cake sales)
• Offer rewards to add to our campaign - if you run a local business, or can offer a service to the general public, you can offer rewards to add to our campaign. These can be discounts / services / spend and save or anything that might convince people to donate to our cause

Please support Winnington Park Cricket Club's cause, so we can raise the necessary funds and place the order for the works to be completed by April 2022.  

Thank you!

This project successfully funded on 14th February 2022