RAWTENSTALL CRICKET CLUB

5 YEAR CLUB DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The story so far is as follows - Having been awarded Clubmark status the requirement here is that we now have to adhere to all standards set for the Club by the ECB under the Clubmark banner subject to periodic checks by the Lancashire Cricket Board.

The one item of note here currently is that the AGM will be requested to adopt all the new guidelines for Child Protection as set out in a new " Safe Hands " policy document approved by the ECB in October 2007 and required to be implemented by all cricket clubs. As Child Protection Officer Pam O' Brien will report on this as necessary to the AGM on Thursday. ( Unfortunately I will miss this meeting as I will be away but I have given Brian Payne a detailed briefing note both for this and for the 5 Year Development plan )

Now let's look at the Plan.

This is a further requirement of the ECB following Clubmark IF any Club wishes to progress to the point of applying for grant aid for a major project from the ECB Capital Grants Fund.

The Committee have previously decided that the main priority and major project should be the complete refurbishment and renovation of the Players Pavilion which has deteriorated over many years.
( Important point to make here is that the ECB Grant scheme will not make funds available for the proposed new clubhouse which is currently the subject of a planning appllication to the Borough Council.)

We have produced a draft 5 year Development Plan in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the ECB ( see their website ). The detail required is substantial and at this stage is the subject of consultation with and initial consideration by Rudra Singh the LCB/s Cricket Development Officer for our area. When we have initial approval to the draft :

1. It will with your assistance , be published on the website and at the Clubhouse for consultation purposes with the members. They also suggest that a summarised draft is produced for wider circulation ( just how I am going to able to do this i do not yet know ! )

2. Following consultation it will then , with any appropriate amendments be submitted to the ECB for their consideration and we hope approval.

Running parallel with this process we now need to obtain a very detailed cost quotation for the work on the Players Pavilion so that this can then be discussed with a Case Officer from the ECB prior to a formal application for grant aid. The maximum amount available would be 75% of an approved cost but the actual grant IF APPROVED could be less than 75% of the cost involved !

And there lies the rub ! As we know if the new clubhouse eventually gets the go ahead we will need all the funds we have and more to achieve this ! So we will have to subsequently look for matching funding elsewhere and by other means if we are ever going to see the essential work on the Players Pavilion carried out. The ECB do operate an interest free loan scheme which may have to come into consideration in due course.

For the record to enable the Plan to be produced the ECB ask all Clubs to appoint a Club Development Manager ( see the website for a detailed description of the job spec ! ) and the Committe have appointed me to this post.

Brian Manning - Club Development Manager
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