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A local community sports group in Flintshire is using funding seized from criminals to create a lighter, brighter and safer environment for all at their ground. Buckley Cricket Club, which was founded in 1898, was recently successful in applying for funding from the Your Community, Your Choice initiative and, on 20 March, club members were visited by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin to discuss plans for the club and how the grant is making a difference for players.
Your Community, Your Choice helps support grass-roots projects across North Wales and is supported by the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT), the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, and North Wales Police. The funding for Your Community, Your Choice comes partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the rest coming from the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Buckley Cricket Club’s (BCC) aim is to be the most open, accessible, safe and inclusive cricket club in North Wales. With this in mind, they are reaching groups who might not have previously thought of playing cricket, or who might not have felt able to. The club feels passionately about this aim given sport helps wellbeing both physically and emotionally and creates a real sense of community. The club’s initial target group were girls and women as they have historically been under-represented among players, and now they have around 50 female members. They have also set out to attract players from diverse cultural and language backgrounds as well.
The club recognised that in order to achieve their aims they needed significant investment in their estate and facilities to make it more accessible and welcoming to all people. The grant therefore is being used to install security lighting throughout the car park and on the patio area of the club with the primary aim to make women, girls and young people feel safe coming to the club via the previously unlit and dark car park.
The team at Buckley Cricket Club commented: “We feel very passionately that by encouraging young people to engage in sport and feeling part of a community we can help to keep youngsters off the streets and participating in an activity that is positive for their physical and mental health. This also creates a sense of self-esteem which we hope reduces anti-social behaviour. We are hoping by improving our outdoor lighting, players will feel safe, secure and that we can continue to attract members across all of our sections and be as welcoming a club as possible for all.
“It was a pleasure to welcome our visitors to the club and to show them how our project is progressing thanks to the funding from Your Community, Your Choice.”
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said: “I was bowled over by the welcome I received from the members at Buckley Cricket Club, who are really going over and above to serve their community and encourage more people to get involved in sport. My plan for fighting crime in North Wales focuses on delivering safer neighbourhoods and supporting communities and BCC and their project to improve safety at the club and widen participation are great examples of both of these aims in action.”
PACT Chairman Ashley Rogers commented: “It’s always a pleasure for your Community, Your Choice to be able to help any organisation that identifies a need, makes a plan, and decides to do something about it and to help the wider community. Buckley Cricket Club recognised the importance of widening access to sport for under-represented groups and it’s very fitting that we are able to assist them in their plans using money taken from criminals.”
North Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Chris Allsop said: “Sports clubs can often find themselves in a sticky wicket when they have a positive idea but need some extra funding to achieve their aim. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to have been able to help Buckley Cricket Club with a grant for lighting at their site. Not only will it provide extra security for members attending training sessions, but it will also help prevent anti-social behaviour and other criminal activity in the area.”
Over the eleven years since Your Community, Your Choice started, almost £600,000 has been awarded to nearly 200 projects working to reduce crime in their neighbourhoods and also to support the priorities in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
To learn more about PACT visit: www.pactnorthwales.co.uk
To find out more information about Buckley Cricket Club, visit: www.buckleywales.play-cricket.com/home