by | Feb 28, 2019 | Uncategorized
For more information on all our junior programmes – cricket, tennis and Swallows & Amazons – visit the Club stand at Staplehurst Artisan Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning.
With arrangements in hand for Sunday afternoon T20 fixtures at Under-17 and Under-19, the Sunday morning training sessions starting on April 28 will now welcome all players under the age of 18.
At the other end of the age range, All Stars Cricket registration for 5-8 year-olds new to cricket has just opened.
This year’s information and registration sessions for all juniors (and their parents!) will be held on the following dates/times:
>Sunday 14 April 10.30-11.00am for those aged 5-11
>Sunday 14 April 11.00-11.30am for those aged 12-18
>Wednesday 24 April 6.30-7.00pm for those aged 5-11
>Wednesday 24 April 7.00-7.30pm for those aged 12-18
All players aged 14+ are encouraged to attend the adult winter training sessions running weekly at Maplesden Noakes school on Thursdays – 8.30-9.30pm – through until April 11.
We also need you to come along to the Club’s cricket forum on Wednesday March 27 at 8.00pm to learn more about the new T20 programme and how this fits with open-age cricket.
FREE Winter training for 10-13 year olds is ongoing at the Weald Sports Centre on Thursdays – 6-7.00pm – through until March 28. Non-members are also welcome.
Similarly, our new Swallows & Amazons programme for 6-9 year-olds is also running Thursday evenings – 5-6.00pm – at the Weald Sports Centre and this is FREE to members.
For more information see https://www.staplehurstcricket.com/juniors.html, visit us at Artisan Farmers’ Market at Staplehurst Cricket & Tennis Club every Saturday morning, attend one of the sessions detailed above or email info@staplehurstcricket.com.
by | Feb 25, 2019 | Uncategorized
The March 100 Club draw was held yesterday and the month’s winners were:
£120 – Trevor Cardon
£50 – Paul Motum
£30 – Peter Christopherson
The next draw will be held on Sunday April 28.
We are now close to the full 100 members (although this is not a limit) and some people have more than one entry. With 38 prizes through the year, every 100 Club member has around a 40% chance of winning at least once.
It is now easier than ever to join:
1. If you currently pay your subscription by Direct Debit, please complete your personal details and Question 5 only on this form here https://bit.ly/2Korri4 and the monthly 100 Club subscription will be set up using your existing Direct Debit details. You will receive email confirmation of the revised or new payment amount and date of first payment.
2. If you do not currently have a Direct Debit or wish to include the monthly 100 Club payment in setting up a new Direct Debit to pay your playing subscription please complete step 1, answering ALL the questions, and then set up the Direct Debit securely online here https://bit.ly/2M4jZNY (it only takes 1 minute if you have your bank account details handy). You will receive email confirmation the Direct Debit has been set up and then – usually within 48 hours – confirmation and date of first payment.
by | Feb 21, 2019 | Uncategorized
Week 1 was hugely successful. Thank you to all those who dropped in. There was a constant steam of customers thoughout the morning and, with many choosing to enjoy the sun and walk, there were few car parking issues.
At this Saturdays market we will have;
Claire’s Bread and Deli with fresh breads, sausage rolls, local cheeses, including some from Kingcott Dairy, a selection of deli salads, pork chops, bacon and sausages from East Sutton Park and Pure Kent – Eckley Farm’s oils.
New this week will be Kashmir Kitchen serving take away, or eat in if you fancy it, Kashmiri curries hot from the kitchen!
Vallance & Sons will be bringing a selection of cakes and bakes including their delicious brownies, a caramel latte drip cakes, lemon meringue cupcakes and a sticky date cake. Gluten free, dairy free and vegan options. They will also have gingerbread decorating to keep small hands busy!
Coffee Buzz will be there with their coffee van, selling a selection of hot drinks with coffee from Bean Smitten Coffee Roasters and teas from The Kent & Sussex Tea and Coffee Company.
Bray’s Bees will have their amazing honey and a selection of wax products including polishes and wax food wraps.
Low Wood Nursery bring a lovely selection of pesticide free plants. Boughton Alpaca eggs will be available
by | Feb 14, 2019 | Uncategorized
The recent Annual General Meeting received an update on progress against the Club’s 2016-20 Development Plan.
And much progress has been made. Obtaining planning permission for housing development and subsequent sale of the land, opens up the potential to complete the Plan in full by the end of 2020.
Members should be familiar with the Plan agreed at the AGM in January 2016, after consultation throughout 2015, and the version presented (and attached to this article on the App) highlights our progress.
The Plan frames the Club’s Board and executive meeting agendas and regular updates will continue to be are posted through Club media. The AGM presentation focused on six key areas:
TENNIS COURTS
The Club received planning permission for the tennis courts development on 31 December. This includes refurbishment of existing hard courts, construction of two new courts, and replacement and extension of floodlighting to all four courts. Work on phase 1 of this scheme will begin on WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20 with refurbishment of the existing courts. The courts will be out of action for two weeks after completion of the base work, and then operate on a temporary surface, before the colour coating is applied and cured. Weather permitting, we are working to a schedule that will see the courts fully reopened in time for a tennis open day on May 5. The phase 2 extension of the courts is subject to ongoing discussions with funding agencies such as the LTA and Sport England and there is, as yet, no set timetable on this.
CLUBHOUSE
A planning application has now been submitted for extension of the Clubhouse. This is focused on the external dimensions in order to establish what is permissible under planning rules and the space we will have to work within. The internal configuration is far from finalised – the working group is wrestling with the complexities of trying to fit ‘a quart into a pint pot’ – and the submitted plans are intended to optimise the chances of planning permission being granted, comply with the requirements of funding agencies such England & Wales Cricket Board and Sport England while recognising, above all, the Club’s long-term needs. Discussions with the funding agencies are ongoing.
Although anything but a ‘done deal’, we hope to obtain planning permission by the summer with the intention of beginning construction work in mid-September and completing by April 2020.
BUSINESS PLAN
The upgrade of facilities will allow us to look at the way we operate and the services we provide. We already welcome between 5,000 and 7,000 people to the Club every year and serving their needs better means generating more income from a broader base to help keep membership and playing costs low. We now have a lot of evidence from the community consultation and survey across the autumn as to what people want to see and what service improvements they would value. To a large extent that evidence – which we will share more fully with members shortly – reinforces the priorities set out in the Club Development Plan. Our intention is to develop a proposition which is compatible with our sporting mission and move towards the year-round, seven day a week opening that will create a more welcoming environment for those engaged in sport.
MEMBERSHIP
Growing the membership is core to our mission. Once the refurbished courts are in use, we would expect to see a significant uptick in tennis activity; we know that many local tennis players play elsewhere because of the poor facilities. That will reinforce the business case for additional courts. Without a new ground, it is difficult to see how we can grow the amount of cricket played although we had a Saturday third team and two Sunday teams on occasions last season. But we are not complacent and need to offer better facilities and opportunities to be the club of choice for cricketers in the area. However, our focus is on growing the youth base and have set a target of doubling the number of members aged under 18 in the next 3-4 years. That’s a 25% year-on-year increase. With the proven marketing capabilities of the HotShotz team and growth of coaching programmes, we’d expect to see that anyway on the tennis side. Cricket is more of a challenge – given the numbers we have already despite cricket’s relatively poor media profile – but we are seeing more 5-8 year olds coming in through the All Stars programme, which grew 50% in 2018, and working to keep and attract more at older ages with a 16-19 T20 offer for those not yet ready to play the longer form of the game. We have even started a multisports activity programme – Swallows & Amazons – for those 6-9 year olds who do not yet realise they like cricket and tennis!
COMMUNICATION
The App is now established as the Club’s primary communication platform. Over 320 members are registered to receive email and more than half have downloaded to their phone or tablet. We saw over 300,000 page hits in 2018, a 50% increase on 2017, and this year we already had 30,000 page hits……..in January!. Live Scores is by far the most popular feature with 20,000 page hits regularly over summer weekends as the exploits of those who are on the field are followed by the rather larger number who aren’t. But Live Scores is also bringing in more people to news and events content, driving higher levels of engagement. And the sharing of App content through local social media is attracting far greater community interest – we are regularly reaching 35,000 households in Staplehurst and the Weald area. As a result, traffic to our website, which remains our main external ‘shop window,’ has increased markedly with an average 30-50 visitors per day through the summer, with membership, junior cricket and results pages being the most visited. And all this is creating local sponsor interest – we have three new main sponsors in 2019 already – and, through the newly launched UseOurSponsors business directory, 40 (and rising weekly) business advertisers. We have decided we need to better integrate the Club’s App and website content along with the other online media we use such as Teamer and Facebook. Work is already underway and a grant of £1,000 has been agreed by ECB towards the cost, given we intend incorporating access to England Cricket live scorecards and video streaming ahead of this summer’s World Cup and Ashes series. Ultimately, we hope to be able to live stream some of our own sport and maybe even some (sanitised) Staplehurst TV broadcasts.
CLUB STRUCTURE
The Club restructuring is now complete and we are just awaiting confirmation from Land Registry that the Club’s land is registered and transfer to Staplehurst Cricket & Tennis Club Limited effected. The changes have been remarkably smooth, given some of the complexities involved, and we are grateful to members for bearing with us and supporting these critical moves for the Club’s long-term future. There will be more impacts over the coming months with the Club’s financial year moving to an April 1-March 31 pattern to align with the membership year, which makes far more sense. This means to comply with company law, future AGMs will be held in November and not January. The new membership scheme is also working well with an overall increase in membership income AND more volunteering. We have yet to fill all the 53 volunteer roles so, if you can commit 1-2 hours a month to support the Club’s activities, please take a look at the list – on the App, website and Facebook group – and find out more. You will see at the back of the Plan that the Club’s 5 main Key Performance Indicators – how we measure success in the 5 strategic priorities – includes increasing the ratio of ‘owners’ to ‘customers’. That means a higher percentage of members becoming FULL members and contributing which will be even more of a challenge if we grow membership as we expect.
by | Feb 9, 2019 | Uncategorized
Following on from the success of the Made by Kent pop up market, Staplehurst’s Artisan Farmers Market have found a more permanent home!
Every Saturday morning, 10.00 am-1.00pm, Staplehurst Cricket & Tennis Club will host the expanded new venture by the co-operative of around 60 local businesses – mainly food producers and allied trades – behind the Made by Kent brand.
Claire’s Bread & deli will bring amazing freshly baked breads and sausage rolls, as well as local cheeses, sausages and meats, fresh deli salads and organic dry goods. All sourced within 30 miles of the village.
Vallance & Sons will be there with an array of handmade baked yumminess, including brownies, scones, tarts and cupcakes. Available to take away or eat in with a cup of tea or coffee.
Contain Yourself will attend every other week with her refill station for toiletries & cleaning products to reduce plastic waste.
The Fat Carrot will have a selection of vegetarian and vegan savoury delights.
Bray’s Bees will have their delicious honey and wax products including polish and food wraps, from their bees in the Wimpey fields in Staplehurst & the Eckley farm in Marden.
Boughton Alpaca will have fresh eggs and alpaca wool knits.
Ritoweg Farm Ltd will bring a selection of meats including goat and lamb.
There will also be Pure Kent – Eckley Farms oils available to purchase.
To keep uptodate on the Market as it develops, follow Artisan Farmers Market at Staplehurst Cricket & Tennis Club on Facebook.
