Caythorpe Cricket Club has been awarded a cash grant as part of a national grassroots funding scheme from Greene King IPA, to help their mission to support the women’s game.
The funding has come from Greene King IPA’s Proud to Pitch In scheme which supports grassroots and community sports clubs across the United Kingdom. The initiative recently celebrated reaching its £500,000 milestone in funding to clubs to date.
Caythorpe CC applied for the grant in 2022, with the aim to support the development of women’s cricket in Nottinghamshire, specifically to help their goal of setting up women’s softball cricket at Caythorpe, and helping to fund cricket officials for the women’s hardball teams.
With around 300 members across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, the club is extremely inclusive and welcoming to all abilities. The club boasts five Saturday senior teams, two Sunday Senior teams, three women’s teams and junior teams.
A few months on from receiving the grant, the club is now able to report back on the difference the contribution has made. The grant was predominantly used to buy equipment and coaching for the women’s softball cricket team, which is now going from strength to strength, from having just three women attend the very first session, to now having over 15 women regularly playing.
The grant also helped to fund cricket officials for hardball fixtures, enabling the club to faci
litate more women’s hardball matches.
Kelly Sladen, Women’s Section Manager and 1st XI Captain, said: “Cricket is an amazing and fulfilling sport that can be played by everyone, which is why we’re currently on a mission to champion the women’s game.
“The grant from Greene King IPA has meant that we now have the capability to run a successful women’s softball cricket section, which in itself brings in vital funds for the club and helps to put us on par, if not above other local clubs.
“For a club of our size, the main challenge when it comes to funding is covering ground and maintenance costs to run facilities. Price can also be a barrier to participation in women’s cricket so any way we can reduce costs will hopefully enable us to recruit and retain more players”.
Emma Hibbert, Head of Marketing for Greene King IPA said: “We launched the donation scheme of 10p from pints of Greene King IPA almost two years ago and we’re delighted to see the impact that Proud to Pitch In funding is having on local community sport. Caythorpe Cricket Club is a great example of championing the women’s game and they’re highly deserving of this funding.”
If you’re part of a grassroots sports team and want to learn more about Greene King’s Proud to Pitch In scheme, visit: https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/proud-to-pitch-in/