“Meet Your MP”
A joint initiative by the League Cricket Conference, Club Cricket Conference and the Midlands Club Cricket Conference.
Improve the profile of your club by getting closer to the decision-makers in your area. Our target is to get clubs throughout England and Wales to invite their MP to visit their club on Saturday 6th July.
Clubs are struggling around the country, not just financially, but also in terms of the administrative burdens imposed on hard working volunteers. As unincorporated bodies club officials are in a particularly vulnerable position and help is desperately needed to keep the clubs afloat. Its not all bad news however, tremendous progress has been made in recent years, we have more coaches than ever, we have more youngsters enjoying club life than ever, and clubs provide a valuable community service, particularly in taking cricket into the local schools, but help is needed if this is to be maintained.
A clear case exists within communities which identifies sport and recreation as socially beneficial in that children are less likely to get involved in anti-social behaviour if they are actively involved in sport, and they remain healthier.
Clubs need to promote themselves within their community, telling the community what they do and how they do it. They need to explain the vital role they play in the welfare of the community, and make friends with the community decision-makers.
We propose therefore that cricket clubs should invite their local MP, councillors and press to join them on a match day to hear at first hand what problems clubs face and what benefits they provide to the community.
So the target is to get every MP in England and Wales to attend a local cricket club on Saturday 6th July.
Invitations to local MP’s will be issued by clubs, ideally two in every constituency, one large and one small.
The event will be co-ordinated by the Conferences who after the event will produce a summary of its achievements.
We recognise that not every constituency in England and Wales may have a cricket club within its boundaries, nevertheless the target will be to ensure that the majority of MP’s in England and Wales attend at least one club on that day.
If I were a Club Chairman
If I were a Club Chairman what would I want to be discussing with my MP.
We have our own local coaches, we have a strong junior section and take an active role in developing cricket within our local schools. We aspire to be the hub of the local community, providing youngsters with a safe and secure sporting environment, developing within our junior membership, not just a love of the game of cricket, but an understanding of the ethos and spirit of cricket.
The club is struggling financially, its very much a hand to mouth existence with constant pressure on the members to raise funds to make ends meet. The summer of 2012 didn’t help, with much of the revenue generated on match days, the loss of matches due to weather has a marked effect on revenue. The vast majority of clubs in 2012 experienced a catastrophic drop in matches due to the rain, and as such income was severely affected. We can’t control the weather, but we need to re-assess our financial priorities.
The Small Charitable Donations Act (assuming the club is a CASC club) will be beneficial, and for that we are grateful.
We need to look at our expenditure, with utility costs increasing, how do we control them? Should the club be more environmentally sustainable, with greater control of water usage, etc? What help can politicians provide to improve the prospects for clubs?
Why does the club need a Performing Rights Society licence when it only has a TV for the benefit of members?
We are closely involved with our local schools, if we send coaches to the schools, should the local authority offer some form of rate rebate?
We survive on the back of volunteers, what additional help can be given to assist us to recruit and maintain our volunteer base?
As the club is an unincorporated body, if I make a wrong decision I could lose my house. Is there an alternative to protect me from the consequences of my decisions?
