Project: Purchasing new ground equipment to maintain the club’s playing facilities
Grant: £1,439
Fund: Gawcott Fields Community Solar
Gawcott and Hillesden Cricket Club is home to a local team who play in the South Northants Cricket League and Buckingham District Midweek League. With their Richard Roper Playing Field being so regularly used by the team, the volunteers who run the club and members of the local community, the equipment used to maintain the grounds was getting a little worse for wear.
The club was relying on borrowing the equipment and facilities of other clubs in order to maintain their grounds and, in some cases, hire out equipment from local firms using money that could have been better invested in their community space.
With a grant of £1,439 from the Gawcott Fields Community Solar Fund, the club was able to purchase a scarifier. Don’t worry, it’s not as terrifying as it sounds. Also known as a ‘dethatcher’, this piece of equipment cuts through soil to remove moss and and grass cuttings, resulting in a well maintained and weed-free playing field.
With immediate access to the equipment needed to maintain their playing field, Gawcott and Hillesden Cricket Club has said that the club and all of its users are benefiting from a better playing surface and are able to play a higher standard of cricket. The improvement to the playing environment will also result in their venue being chosen to host more high profile matches, bringing local residents together to watch the sport played at the club.
