Cricket club celebrates grant of £40k
A cricket club is celebrating after receiving a £40,000 grant to refurbish its clubhouse and boost facilities for budding players.
It has been a successful period for the recently formed Oldswinford and Stourbridge Social Cricket Club which has already received a cash injection to pay for training equipment.
The two clubs merged together last year after a successful partnership which allowed players to take to the field for both sides was formalised.
Around £36,000 was given to the cricket ground in Albermarle Road, Oldswinford, to build new nets for players to use during training.
And now the club has been given a further £40,000 from Sport England's Inspired Facilities Fund to revamp the clubhouse.
Club officials say the money will be used to replace the existing roof at the Oldswinford ground which has been leaking during wet weather.
A new kitchen is also being installed and flooring laid inside to revamp the clubhouse. A patio area and seating is also being created thanks to the cash.
Bosses say the work will start in the coming weeks to be completed ahead of next season.
Around 60 adults play for the club's teams over weekends throughout the season alongside more than 120 children.
Club secretary Ken Slater today said he was delighted to have received the grants.
"We're absolutely thrilled because this funding secures the club for the next generation," he said.
"It is a thriving and buoyant club and this will help us out a great deal. We wouldn't have been able to raise this money on our own, it would have taken us years.
"We always had a good relationship with Stourbridge Social and this merger has helped both clubs."
The club now uses a second cricket ground in Norwood Road, Brockmoor, Brierley Hill, to help expand the number of teams it can accommodate.
Oldswinford moved to its existing ground in 1983, but many of the original features of the clubhouse had fallen into disrepair.
"The roof had been leaking a bit so that was one of the main thing that we wanted to sorted out," said Mr Salter whose three grandchildren, Tom, aged 12, Joe, 10, and seven-year-old Will play at the club.
The club now has up to 20 volunteer coaches who work with the teams.
