Over the next month we are going to do a series of interviews on a weekly basis with club officials which will provide an insight in to the work which goes on at the cricket club. Starting today with club secretary Lee Parkinson :
How have things gone since you took over as secretary?
It’s been about two years since I took over the role and it’s been a mixed bag if I’m being honest. We did a lot of good work in the build up to and during the 2018 season with updating the bar and the Club house and also trying to move the Club in the right direction off the field. This progressed further for the 2019 season with more local people / companies coming on board to support the Club sponsorship wise. One big thing was that we were able to update what was an unsafe scoreboard into an electronic scoreboard with the help of one of our main sponsors; this was a significant project and a major investment for the Club.
As well as all the good things that happen, there are things that don’t go to plan and it’s sometimes frustrating to take what feels like two steps forward and one step back; however we need to keep focused in trying to accomplish what we want to achieve and that is financial security for the Club.
Trying to keep things ticking over during the close season is extremely difficult and frustrating as people just don’t see the Cricket Club as somewhere to go and have a drink when there’s no cricket on. We introduced SKY in 2018 in order to show live sport, especially football, as we thought that this would encourage people to come along for a drink as we are very reasonably priced but it never seems to happen so we don’t get the footfall to make SKY cost effective during the winter months.
We do keep trying to attract the local community to the Club as we want everyone to feel involved and feel like they can come to see us even during the close season.
How many people are involved with the club and what work is involved in running it?
We have a committee which currently has twelve members, but we are always looking for more people to come on board to help out. We also have three ground staff plus a group of volunteers who help out in the tea room. Added to this are the junior coaches so we have a good group of people who help at the Club, but as mentioned we are always looking for more.
With regards to what is involved, it’s basically anything you can think of from helping behind the bar, to cleaning up, to raising funds and supporting with fund raisers.
The committee meet once a month throughout the year, to keep up to date and to come up with ideas to raise money. We also cover the bar between us during the winter months as we have ladies darts, the Motor Club and other functions on at the Club so we all need to chip in and help out.
What plans does the club have for the future?
Simple answer, to raise as much money as possible to keep the facilities up to scratch and to get the Club into a financially secure state. We also need to ensure that we can attract players both at junior and senior level to keep the Club moving forward.
There are some projects around the ground that need to be completed, but again this takes money so we will be looking at various grants etc to see if we can get funds in place to get things sorted.
Are there any events/fundraisers planned during the winter months?
Yes, we have a Race Night on Saturday 30th November, which we are hoping will be a success. We are trying to get local companies involved with sponsoring races and opening things up to the local community to buy horses and become involved. These nights are usually enjoyable so we’re hoping to attract as many people as we can to raise some money and to maybe introduce people to the Club.
We are also having a “Winner Takes All” Christmas raffle, further details to be announced but this again should help raise some funds for the Club and we have some excellent prizes to give away.
The Club House is always available for hire for anyone who would like a venue for birthdays, Christenings, Baby Showers etc.
How can individuals/companies get involved with the club?
Very simple, just drop us a message on our website or any of our social media pages (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram) and we’ll get back to you ASAP to discuss things. We are open to any new companies or individuals who want to come on board to help us take the Club forward.
Next Week : 1st Team Captain Luke Hipgrave
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