Cricket club thank community for helping raise £3k for pavilion refurbishment
Clarence Park pavilion. Picture: Andy Saunders. - Credit: Archant
St Albans Cricket Club have thanked their members and the wider community for helping raise £3.5k in a matter of days to refurbish their pavilion.
The upstairs of Clarence Park pavilion. Picture: Andy Saunders. - Credit: Archant
After doing up the Clarence Park pavilion bar last year, the club’s attention has now turned to the upstairs area, including a long room and kitchen.
Committee member Andy Saunders said: “It’s not been looked after for many years due to a lack of funds and volunteers.
“The facilities are very old and just need a refresh.
“We did an amazing job on the bar, which used to look like a terrible sixth form common room and now looks like a state-of-the-art bar.”
To finance the upstairs work, Andy set up a Just Giving page on Friday, March 2 and by Wednesday, March 7, it had shot past the £3,500 target for donations.
With an additional £1,750 grant from the English Cricket Board secured through the Herts Cricket Association, the club has now raised around £5,000 and it is hoped the work will start in April before the cricket season starts.
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Mr Saunders, who is also the 4XI captain, said: “I was very impressed with how quickly we were able to raise the money.
“This was very much a community effort and a lot of credit goes to members, but we know we could not do it without the residents. It was just a matter of commitment and hard work from club members and volunteers.
“People understand it’s part of an ongoing process and will pay long-term dividends to the club. We are very much a community club and want communities to use the facilities and realise what an important asset the cricket club is to St Albans.
Mr Saunders also thanked the Clarence Park Residents Association for their support.
The plan for the upstairs area is to remove the existing serving area, install a serving hatch, and make it open-plan with new lighting and wooden flooring.
The club, who are the pavilion’s tenants, want to turn the area into a workspace for people to come and use the Wi-Fi and also somewhere for people to watch the cricket and hire it out for functions.
The club are always looking for new members and anyone who is interested can visit www.stalbanscc.com to find out more.
To donate to the refurbishment, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stalbanspavilion
