Dear Members and Supporters
Ivybridge Cricket Club is currently enjoying its most successful period in its 42 year history and you members and supporters are creating and enjoying that success.
We have much to be proud of:
- A fantastic facility in Filham Park, our home of the past 7 years, with an award winning square and outfield.
- Up to 200 members, players, coaches, parents and the public enjoying our ground on fine Friday evenings this summer.
- The 1st XI playing in the A Division of the Devon League, the highest level at which we have ever competed.
- The 2nd XI now in their 3rd season in the B West Division again the highest level at which they have competed.
- More than thirty 5-8 year olds enjoying the ECB All Stars programme.
- Current Cup and League winning teams at under 11 and under 13 levels and this season a vastly improved under 15 team.
As the club becomes more successful this of course drives the ambition of us all. In the 7 years since we moved from the Erme to Filham Park we have developed the ground, clubhouse and facilities to the standard you see and enjoy today.
With a thriving and vibrant club the committee is keen to provide the best facilities that we can and in light of this we wish to announce our latest fundraising campaign.
Our 2-lane practice nets at the top end of the ground are a legacy of our Erme ground days. They are looking tired, and whilst still operational, we look on enviably to clubs such as Cornword and Plympton locally, who play in the same 1st XI Division as ourselves, and who have far superior net facilities. We believe people would choose our playing facilities above most locally but that our practice facility is a significant barrier to us attracting the best talent to the club.
The committee has been discussing how we replace our nets for a number of months and we have made a Planning Application that is currently being considered for a new 2-lane caged facility to be built to the side of the lean to housing ‘Blades’ our outfield mower. The new nets would have the latest core substrate and matting to ensure a true playing surface, will be caged keeping people safe and the unit secure and it will be closer to the clubhouse allowing us to operate electrics for a bowling machine should we wish to do so. We intend putting some drawings up in the clubhouse soon so that you can take a closer look.
Planning is in, designs are done, feedback from you the members will be sought and then of course comes the fun part! Such modern facilities are not cheap and so we need to find a total of up to £40,000 to pay for the new nets. At first sight it’s a daunting figure but new nets should last 10-20 years if well maintained and will ensure that both young and old can continue to learn to play the game we love at one of the best facilities and surroundings locally.
The committee is working hard to secure funding from a number of grant opportunities however most grant schemes ask that we the members make a significant contribution towards the total. We don’t know all the exact figures yet but with 3 accountants on the committee we have estimated we will need to find 30% of the total giving us a member contribution fundraising target of £12,000. We need to raise this sum as soon as we can and so are setting a provisional target of 2017 year end. We stress this is a provisional target and could go up or indeed down but it is our best estimate as of today.
With your help the club successfully raised £5,000 last year to purchase ‘Blades’ so the committee feel confident that with a similar level of effort and enthusiasm we can reach our £12,000 target. Of course it will need us all to be focussed and pulling in the same direction in order to secure a fantastic facility for Ivybridge Cricket Club and its members.
A large number of fundraising events to year end have been identified by committee and you will hear about these soon starting with the Vice Presidents Day and Race Night this Saturday June 24th and culminating in an end of year dinner similar to the successful one that we held 2 seasons ago. We intend creating a JustGiving page to help us with our fundraising and will keep you updated on progress using a ‘totalizer’ in the clubhouse. We also need your suggestions, be they for events themselves, grant opportunities, private donations etc so please feel free to reach out to Martin Templar our Vice Chairman, Jon Sparkes our Treasurer, Jerry Clough our Fundraising Manager, myself or any member of the committee should you have any thoughts.
We have a lot to be proud of at Ivybridge Cricket Club and as members and supporters have an opportunity to show great teamwork together in pursuit of an ambitious goal that will make the club stronger and a real asset to our town. In excess of 70 children play cricket every week with us in Ivybridge. With the best facilities, coaches and opportunities we can ensure the health of the game in the town for many future years. Please join us in supporting this effort and provide any feedback that may make our fundraising effort stronger.
We look forward to working with you over the coming months
Kind Regards
Des Solomon – Chairman
On behalf of the Ivybridge Cricket Club Committee