Improving access at Budleigh Cricket Club

An Intro to our Project!

Who are we?

Budleigh Salterton cricket club (BSCC) is growing and diversifying at an incredible rate.  We have provided cricket to the community since 1858, but in recent years we have been hugely successful in growing our junior section for both boys and girls, creating and rapidly growing a women's section, and started to support Disability cricket in the form of school festivals.

A place for the community

BSCC, is not just for cricket, it is a place for the whole community to come and enjoy.  We are open all year round and are here to support the community.  Many local schools, including SEND schools, use our facility for their physical activities. The club is a community venue for people to come together; whether it be for parties, celebrations, meetings or community events.  We have hosted running races, yoga, children's football, charity walks etc etc.  We are so much more than a cricket club.

The Problem

We have created something special at our club which is seeing hundreds of people come through our doors every week.

 We want our club to be safe and accessible to everyone.   We have successfully achieved this through adapting our clubhouse to provide full disabled access.  This also ensures that those less stable on their feet, or those with prams/buggies can enjoy everything we offer.

However, outside the clubhouse needs work to reach the same level of accessibility.  It's vital that we improve this area as much of our club's enjoyment is outside watching and playing sport.  Currently some members of our community are prevented from enjoying these spaces, and therefore unable to join in with some activities.  This needs to change.

Budleigh Salterton has a large elderly population, and our club provides a social place for retired people to meet.  We host U3A meetings and WI get togethers to mention just a couple of groups that are reliant on us on a weekly basis.  We are worried about the uneven area outside of our club, and it's a safety concern for those visiting. 

With us being awarded "Disability Champions Status" by the England and Wales cricket board in 2023, we are fully involved in supporting them with a lot of new initiatives. To date, these have been in the form of SEND festivals for local schools.  Our outside area is currently preventing us from supporting those in a wheelchair, or those with more advanced mobility issues. For us it is absolutely key to rectify this so that we are making sure we are reaching and providing for absolutely everyone.

Finally, we are a family club.  We offer cricket opportunities to children from the age of 5 years.  Friday evenings are our family nights when over 150 children come to the club, with their families, to enjoy their cricket training. In addition, we have 14 junior teams that take part in competitive matches.  In addition many schools use the facility as we have so much outdoor space.   We have hundreds of children using the club every week. It's really important to make the outside area at the club safer for these children who love to run around and enjoy the space.

The Solution

Our goal is to install a patio around the clubhouse. This will enable all areas to be fully accessible and safe to all users. It will be fully wheelchair friendly, and easier to navigate for those with walking aids. All money raised will go towards this project.

Our goal at BSCC is to be a fully inclusive club, and this patio is the last piece of the puzzle to making that happen.  A patio will make the outside area of the club more welcoming and accessible for everyone, and enable far more of our community to come and enjoy all the events that take place at the club. We would be a real community "hub".

In addition, the patio will further support our goal of becoming a "regional hub for disability cricket" and allow us to provide far more cricketing (and non cricketing) opportunities to our disabled community.  This is a much needed resource in the South West.

Help us to complete this wonderful community project.

Please donate generously to our cause, it really will make such a huge difference to our community.  If we raise £6750, then Sport England will match it!

How you can play your part?

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes, and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Thank you for any help you can give us.