Grant News
In partnership with Sport England, the England and Wales Cricket Board has launched a new fund to help cricket tackle inequalities in access to safe, good quality grass cricket pitches across England and Wales.
The Grass Pitch Improvement Fund will invest £5 million of National Lottery funding in grassroots facilities over three years. The first £1 million will be available in 2024 to support clubs and cricket organisations in upgrading their facilities and encouraging more people to take up the sport.
Priority will be given to applications which support cricket for the following groups:
- Women’s and girls’ cricket
- Cricket in diverse communities
- Disability cricket
- Low socio-economic groups
Grant amounts will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Investment will be targeted into three main areas:
- Improving the quality of squares and outfields (for grass pitches rated ‘unsuitable’ or ‘basic’ to improve to at least ‘good’)
- Creating sustainable management of sites (through irrigation and machinery improvements)
- Installing hybrid pitches to increase playing capacity
The fund will run until March 2027, or whenever funding is fully allocated, whichever is sooner.
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