Gloucestershire players brush up on DIY skills
7 March 2013
Players from Gloucestershire County Cricket Club will be brushing up on their DIY skills this weekend as they help Winterbourne CC paint their new pavilion.
Around 15 of the squad will join an army of volunteers lending a hand as part of the 2013 Natwest CricketForce initiative.
One of the players giving up his time to help is GCCC batsman Dan Housego.
He said: “The players at Gloucestershire County Cricket Club are delighted to be able to support our local clubs in any way we can.
“I am not sure what some of the lads painting skills will be like but we are looking forward to doing our bit to help Winterbourne CC move a step closer to completing their pavilion, which will be a fantastic facility for the cricket club and the local community.”
The new pavilion has been 18months in the making and includes new changing rooms, toilets and showers, a kitchen, lounge area and facilities for people with disabilities. It is hoped that Winterbourne’s third and fourth teams will be able to use the changing rooms from the start of the new season and the whole thing will be completed by the end of the summer.
Club secretary Liz Bracey said: “I think it will be fantastic for our members because the last time a lot of them saw it, it was just a shell and now it is a club house.
“People have been very good about giving up their time to help but having the GCCC players there on Saturday will encourage more people to come and lend a hand and it will be a great morale boost for everyone.”
At the start of the project Winterbourne – who have five senior teams and six junior league sides - couldn’t afford to employ a contractor and relied on club stalwarts Alan Luton and Mike Anstey to do much of the work. The pair gave up their time to complete all the block work for free and were subsequently awarded a Natwest OSCA (Outstanding Services to Cricket Award) for their efforts.
The club found a number of other innovative ways to keep their costs down, including working with construction students from South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. They have also been awarded a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Trust and were recently given around £750 worth of building materials for free by Wiltshire construction firm Gaiger Brothers.
Steve Silk, cricket development manager at the Gloucestershire Cricket Board said: “It is fantastic to see the pavilion project coming to fruition. It just shows that when people put in the time and effort great things can happen. The original quote was around £250k to £270k but by asking questions, speaking to different people and forming partnerships with groups like the College they have managed to get it built for a fraction of the cost."
