WORK on much-anticipated 3-lane practice nets at The Holt will start next month thanks to a mammoth fundraising drive!
The £70k+ three-lane enclosed practice facility will cement our club’s status as a premier location for access to cricket in the South West.
This facility, an exciting development for BSCC, will be in place well ahead of the 2025 season thanks to the generosity of grant-giving bodies and the hard work of our members and the community in raising funds.
From sitting in a bath of beans, abseiling down tors and washing cars at The Holt, the fundraising effort by players and members of all ages has been colossal.
A large portion of the funding has been raised thanks to the hard work of BSCC fundraising manager Carolyn Roper who has secured donations from several trusts, including the ECB’s County Grant Scheme.
She said: “It’s wonderful that we are now in a position to start building our new cricket nets. Raising the money has been a huge effort for our membership, with juniors and seniors all getting involved in raising money through all sorts of activities. We have received so much support from our community attending events, and local Trusts generously contributing to the cause. The players have been very patient for two cricket seasons, it will be great to have them in place ready for 2025.”
The nets have been designed in conjunction with provider Exclusive Leisure to high specifications for use for disability cricket as well as for regular training for our junior, senior and women’s sides.
Work on the nets will commence after the cricket season towards the end of September. It will take 12 - 15 days to complete the project, subject to the weather and ground conditions.
BSCC Director Andy Drodge said: “We are really pleased to have received grants which, added to our own fundraising efforts, allows us to proceed with the provision of an all weather training net facility which will be ready ahead of next season. The state-of-the-art nets will add to our already excellent facilities and will be pivotal to the development of our junior sections and to enabling our senior squads to hone their skills to achieve the level of success on the pitch the club is aiming for. This is a significant step forward in the playing side of the club after all of the progress we have made on the off-pitch side of the club.”