Welcome to Claygate Cricket Club - 125 years of history!

CLAYGATE SPORTS AND COMMUNITY CLUBHOUSE

PROGRESS REPORT No 14    Week Ending 2^nd December 2011.

All the blockwork is  complete and one of the flat roofs have had their felting completed.

Scaffolding has been removed from the inside and repositioned to complete the roof timbers that fly over the front balcony.

Due to a changed instruction from the gas suppliers we have had to dig an extra deeper trench for the new main from Dalmore Avenue which is going in today. Unfortunately this will use some of the remaining contingency sum.

It doesn’t look as if the external cladding will get done before Christmas but much of the external works should be complete as well as all windows, doors and roofing.

Any comments, questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

CLUBHOUSE NEWS!

CLAYGATE SPORTS AND COMMUNITY CLUBHOUSE

Monday 19^th December 2011

 Progress Report No 15    Week Ending 16th December 2011

The roof structure has been completed and the roof covering will be
completed in the next few days.

The electrical and gas connections are now live –just awaiting the installation of the new meters by nPower.

Thanks to Graham Dear we are now going to be able to have underfloor heating in the lounge and kitchen areas

The external works will not get started before Christmas because the roofing was delayed by the supply of the roof covering system. This has meant that the scaffolding could not be removed which prevented completion of the external drainage.

Quotes are being obtained for the sanitary ware, doors and flooring.

We have several offers of help from players and the community. Russ Guyatt is co-ordinating this. We currently plan to do start some painting on 27^th and 29^th December. So if you have a few spare hours please make contact with Russ on 07776 135605

Any comments, questions will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

PROGRESS REPORT No 13    Week Ending 25^th November 2011.

Not such good progress last week as the interchange between the different trades and their scaffolding needs slowed things down. However, as can be seen in the photograph, the roof timbers are well advanced and the gable walls are complete.

Everything is ready for the new electrical and gas mains to be connected by the respective utility providers.

There will be a busy programme leading up to Christmas to complete the roof and make the building weather tight and secure.

Any comments, questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

PROGRESS REPORT No 12    Week Ending 18^th November 2011.

Another good week’s progress. The flat roofs are finished apart from the felting which should be this week.

The timbers for the ridged section are well advanced and the gable walls are near completion

The digging of the utility trenches are now in full swing ready for the electricity supply going in at the end of the week. (Not to be connected to new meter yet.)

Surrey CC have started the replacement of the new ‘street’ lights within the Rec.

Any comments, questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

PROGRESS REPORT No 11    Week Ending 11^th November 2011.

Good progress with the roof timbers this week for both the flat roofs.

The brickies could do no more for the time being so went off site.

A lorry delivering more timber got bogged down to its axles on Friday and hence there can be no more deliveries from the Foley Road entrance. We have been very lucky with the weather so it is fortunate that there are not many more heavy deliveries to be made.

The guided tour went ahead on Friday with a party of about 10.

Any comments, questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

PROGRESS REPORT No 9    Week Ending 28^th October 2011.

Ready for the roof!

Any comments, questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

PROGRESS REPORT No 7    Week Ending 14^th October 2011.

Remarkably we have only really had one day of rain during the working week in the first seven weeks of this project. It has been suggested that we ask the contractor for a discount for good weather; hopefully with tongue in cheek, as contracts don’t work like that unless agreed in advance. We should just be thankful that we haven’t had the rains of the summer because that would certainly have hindered progress.

Some of the walls are now up to eaves level and everything is on target to start roof construction on 24^th October.

The proposal is to have a guided tour on Saturday 12^th November to enable everybody who is interested to get a feel for the layout and space in the different rooms. Can anybody help in providing hard hats and high viz tops?.

There is a meeting to discuss the design of the bar and kitchen layouts this week, which will include a representative from Magnet who are considering some level of sponsorship.

Any comments, questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com. Tel 07798 677510

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PROGRESS REPORT No 6    Week Ending 7th October 2011.

The weather continued to shine on the clubhouse enabling further good progress by our builders Woodward Alden. Anybody passing the site this week won’t have failed to notice the very quick rise of the external block walls. They are now about 70% complete which means the works remain on programme.

Discussions have been held with all the utility providers so they are all lined up to make the connections to the new clubhouse before Christmas. The details for fitting out the kitchen and bar layouts are also being developed

It is proposed to hold a guided tour one Saturday early in November to enable everybody who is interested to get a feel for the layout and space in the different rooms. Watch the website for news of the exact timing.

Any questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com.

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PROGRESS REPORT No 5    Week Ending 30th September 2011.

The placing of the beam and block floor was 100% completed (Except for the front terrace)

The first lift of the external wall blocks was completed.

The surface water attenuation tank and connection to the field drains was completed.

The submersible pumping station was placed and backfilled.

The photograph shows the block work walling progress

Progress was slower than expected due to late delivery of blocks and late arrival of brickies but we are still just ahead of programme.

Not related to the construction contract but the landscaped ‘mound’ was substantially completed and seeded. Hopefully we will have some growth before the cold weather arrives.

Any questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com.

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PROGRESS REPORT No 4    Week Ending 23rd September 2011. 

The placing of the beam and block floor was 90% completed

The foul drainage runs below the floor were completed

The photograph shows the flooring work in progress

Any questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com.
 

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PROGRESS REPORT No 3    Week Ending 16th September 2011.

Progress was slow this week because the blockwork team could not arrive earlier than originally programmed.

The hole for the submersible pumping station was excavated.

The photograph shows the blockwork being placed up to floor level.

Any questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com.

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PROGRESS REPORT No2    Week Ending 9th September 2011.

Fortunately the second week of the project was not as wet as it was forecast to be and progress was good.

The excavation was completed with spoil being used to complete the ‘mound stand’ and surplus material being stored adjacent to the site for later use.

Despite very slow delivery of 11 trucks of ready-mix concrete on Friday the foundations were completed in the week. This is a major step forward and has potentially resulted in substantial savings. Three meetings were held during the week at which the clubhouse was discussed, the Claygate CC Committee Mtg , the Claygate Recreation Ground Trust Steering Committee and the weekly site meeting with the contractor. A few issues from these meetings were:- 

§          The need to identify people who will able and willing to provide their labour for free to complete the tiling, flooring, carpentry and decorating.

§          Need for assistance with landscaping. The working party on Saturday made a good start but there is much more to do both for the mound and later around the clubhouse.

§          It has been agreed to include an extra steel beam which will enable the possibility in the future of opening up the lounge area into the home dressing room for events.

§          Sponsorship is being sought to enable us to improve the quality of the kitchen we will start off with if no more funds are forthcoming.

The photograph shows the concrete pump placing concrete into the trench foundations

 
Any questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com.

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PROGRESS REPORT No1    Week Ending 2^nd September 2011.

In mid August the building contract was finally awarded to Woodward Alden and Sons Ltd with the Building Services sub-contracted to CAG Electrical Contractor’s Ltd.

The overall project cost has crept up from the original estimate to a total of £330,000. However, it has been kept down with due thanks to professional services being provided at less than commercial rates by Robin Crane, Crane & Associates (Architects), Ken Carruthers, WCJ (Structural Engineers), Brett Sumner, WCJ, (CDM-C), John Dallimore, JDP (Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and Richard Waller, RKW-CEC, (Drainage Design and co-ordination.)

The original high tender prices have been reduced by some re-design, great co-operation from the directors of Woodward Alden, a massively discounted cost for building services by Graham Dear of CAG and assuming that much of the internal finishing will be completed by members of the sports clubs and the community.

Work started on site on Tuesday 30^th August and is expected to be completed by 31^st January 2012. The demolition of the old pavilion will follow that. Most of the building work is expected to be completed before Christmas. Direct labour support will be very welcome (essential) over the Christmas / New Year holidays.

Progress this week included erection of safety fencing, stripping of top soil, excavation of 30% of the foundation trenches and use of the spoil to create a landscape feature between the children’s play area, the football pitches and the cricket outfield. The heap –already christened the ‘Mound Stand’ – will be contoured and re-seeded to add to the features of the recreation ground and provide an improved viewing area for football and cricket matches.

I intend to keep a weekly report going which will be updated on the website. You are welcome to visit, to see the works for yourself, but health and safety restrictions will prevent you entering the working area at this stage.

Any questions or offers of direct labour will be very welcome to rkwaller.cec@gmail.com.

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Ground cutting takes place at Flower Show!

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Construction of Claygate’s new clubhouse to start in September

Friday 20^th May saw the launch of a £320K improvement project to construct a new clubhouse at Claygate Recreation Ground.

Funding for Claygate’s new multi-sport community clubhouse is now in place and final plans have been reviewed and agreed with Elmbridge Borough Council (EBC) for work to start in early June. Final planning permission was received from EBC earlier this month.

The new facility will replace the existing building which is more than 60 years old and is generally in very poor condition.

Project director Richard Waller will manage the construction which is expected to start in early June. The building will be in full use in about nine months time. The building will be timber clad and have an area of approximately 200 square metres. It will be designed to be secure against forced entry and vandalism, low carbon content, low energy consumption, with sustainable drainage and is sympathetic and appropriate to its location. It will comprise of increased space for changing, modern indoor toilets and showers and enhanced kitchen facilities. It will also have a lounge area that can accommodate club meetings and wider community use.

With hygienic facilities and improved access, it is envisaged that the new building will attract a wide range of community groups in addition to the main users - Claygate Cricket Club and Claygate Royals Football Club.

The original funding target set in early 2010 was £290k, but after design modifications and a full tendering process held over the last few months, the revised cost is now around £320k.

In the early part of the year funding stood at just less than £295k and the project has started to exhaust some of the potential for larger grant funding. However, hearing of the situation, Professor Peter Saville of Saville Consulting has donated a figure of £25k to enable the organisers to reach the target.  

Peter Saville has lived in Elmbridge for much of the last 40 years. He started his psychometric testing business in 1974 in a bedroom in Common Road, Claygate. They had their first office in Esher and finally moved to Thames Ditton. His original company Saville and Holdsworth was started in 1977 and at one point they had two offices in Esher, two in Thames Ditton and over 1000 staff worldwide. His current company Saville Consulting, is situated in Littleworth Road, Esher. He played for Claygate FC and his two sons played for Claygate Royals where he was Chairman from 1992 – 1998. 

Fundraising Co-ordinator Nigel Abbott commented, “We have done brilliantly to get close to the £300k mark in less than a year, thanks to the efforts and energy of the cricket club but Peter heard that we were short of our total and this donation is a fantastic gesture. He has a long history of being part of the Claygate community and has supported many activities locally, but this allows the project to go ahead without us loosing further valuable time.”

The Claygate Clubhouse has also been awarded additional grants from both the Football Foundation, and The Veolia Environmental Trust who awarded £25,000.

Executive Director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Margaret Cobbold says, “The Trust supports community and environmental projects across the country. It is always a pleasure to see a scheme we have supported get underway. I look forward to seeing the project take shape and the building being used and enjoyed by the whole community.”

Nigel Abbott continued, “However, because £60k from the total raised are loans, there is still a big target for us to reach the point when the building is commissioned, and for it to be debt free. So there is a chance for everyone in the community to help support this unique, and highly visible local development. There are still sponsorship opportunities for businesses and individuals to sponsor rooms, walls or individual bricks and a number of events will continue to be held in the village raising money for the project.”

CRGT Chairman Steve Wells commented, “We are absolutely delighted that we have reached this stage in the project and are able to crystallise our plans. We have recently been through an extensive tendering process and at one stage costs looked high. However, project director Richard Waller and his team have worked through item by item and come up with a plan which is deliverable at this cost.  This modern facility will allow us to really increase the use of this terrific community space. This is an exciting development, not only for the Recreation Ground but for Claygate as a whole. We believe the project will create an attractive community facility for everyone in the village for many years to come.”

Claygate Cricket Club in particular has been promoting the need for a new clubhouse for many years and they have been prime movers in this proposal. Several Claygate CC members are trustees of CRGT and actively participate in management of the ground.

The cricket club will use the old clubhouse during this summer until such time when the new building is ready.

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Sunday 14th January 2011

Sportsman’s evening brings Claygate Clubhouse another step nearer!

Over 90 guests crowded into the Bengal Lancer Indian restaurant in Claygate last week (Thursday 13th Jan) for a Sportsman’s Evening in aid of the new Claygate Clubhouse.

After a full Indian buffet, guests enjoyed an hour and a half’s lively discussion with England and Surrey CCC off-spinner Gareth Batty and Tony Gale, ex Fulham and West Ham, a premiership winner with Blackburn Rovers (1994-95) and now football pundit for Sky Sports.

The host for the evening was Ian Darke, ex Sky Sports, now ESPN football commentator who is a member of Claygate Cricket Club and lives in the village.

With a successful auction and quiz the evening raised nearly £3k for the clubhouse appeal.

Fundraising co-ordinator Nigel Abbott commented, “It was a hugely enjoyable evening and another successful step towards our fundraising total. We have now reached a total of around £290k, around £25k short of overall target. Since just before Christmas we have gone through a detailed analysis of the construction bids and we hope to be able to announce the final details of the plan, and the building schedule, within the next couple of weeks.”

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Carols in the snow!

A party of around two dozen die-hards braved the minus 5 conditions on a cold and snowy Friday night to sing carols at Claygate station and raise money for the new clubhouse.

The group, including half a dozen of our young colts, sang heartily for two hours at the station...at the chippy...outside the Co-op... and then piled into the Foley for a bit of a warm!

Treasurer Jon Law left the evening 6 inches shorter with his trouser pockets full of coins and later confirmed that we had raised a fantastic £200... mostly in 10 and 20p’s!

The undoubted star was Ben Ross with his trumpet, who managed to play Little Donkey at least 23 times!

Amongst the carols were the cricketers favourites of The last Bowel...We three slips of Orient are....and Whilst batsman watched their bats at night.

Thanks to Ruth for organising a very social, entertaining and worthwhile evening and everyone who participated for turning out!

The picture (below) desperately needs a caption! The silliest will win a special Christmas present from the fundraising coordinator! E-mail gnabbott@aol.com

A new clubhouse for Claygate

Progress newsletter - 5 December 20th 2010

With a steady flow of additional funds from the dinner dance, carol singing, brick sales and donations, together with a further loan of £35k agreed earlier this month from the Surrey Playing Fields Association, we have now reached a total assured funding of £286k, a brilliant achievement and about £10k short of our original target.

However, having been running the project for 9 months, we are starting to exhaust some of the potential for larger grant funding, and whilst we have robust plans for a flow of events next year – these will be required to pay back loans. So whilst we still have some potential to raise funds – the scale will reduce considerably.

As far as the building is concerned, in November we completed the tendering process and reviewed the response from six builders. All the tenders came in substantially higher than expected. As a result we have been through the favoured bids in a detailed cost-reduction process – which was completed last week.

We believe we can reduce the cost to around £310k through changing our approach to a number of elements such as the foundations, heating and ventilation, reducing the roof pitch and so on. Whilst none of these will make major differences to the way the building looks from the current design, they might impact the way it will run in the future, but we believe these are all needed for the project to go ahead. We still have some activities to prove these changes - a soil survey for example to confirm the revised plans for the foundations, but the outcome of these should be clear by mid January. We will then need to approve our plans with Elmbridge Borough Council before announcing the final cost and the start date for building. At the earliest this will now be March. As back-up we have made an application to the Sport England Iconic Facilities Fund but we cannot be confident our bid will be successful.

We have also looked again at the need for work-in-kind (i.e. work which we are looking to members to do) and will need to increase this scope. It will now need to include tree removal, landscaping, decking & fencing, painting, tiling, vinyl flooring and fixing sanitary ware. This will add up to a considerably increased work commitment on behalf of members.

We are investigating a number of ways that volunteer labour can help. The Nat West Cricket force is one example and we already have the dates of April 9/10 in the diary with them. Please reserve that weekend in your diary as well!

Back to the fundraising...

* We have launched our Couples Questionnaire. This has been designed by Saville Consulting in Claygate who are experts in psychometric testing. The questionnaire forms the basis of a research project into the personality of couples. We will get £10 from Savilles for every couple who participates. We are aiming for 150 couples generating £1500. Please get in touch with Rufus if you can help.

* In the New Year we have a Sportsman’s Dinner on Thursday 13th January at the Bengal Lancer with Gareth Batty of Surrey CCC and Tony Gale, the Sky Sports pundit and a premiership title-winning footballer with Blackburn Rovers. Book your tickets now (£25) from James McPhail (Jimmymac818@hotmail.com).

* We expect to arrange a Car Wash Day in the village at the end of March with a team lead by David Price. He will be looking to involve as many members as possible.

* There will be other events coming along in the New Year after that – a music evening in Village Hall, a Golf Day at Surbiton Golf Club on Friday 15th April and so on. Please support as many of these as possible. Have you bought your brick yet?!

So overall...

So you can see we are not yet clear when we expect to start building, but we will be announcing this early in the New Year. Meanwhile please support our events, encourage others to buy bricks and let’s keep the effort going.

Happy Christmas to everyone ...and we hope that 2011 will bring fruition to all the hard work of 2010!

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A new clubhouse for Claygate

Progress newsletter - 4                                             November 24th 2010

It’s six weeks since our last newsletter but in terms of the project it seems like a lifetime ago!

There is a great deal to report, most of which has been positive, but again it’s a big thank you to all of those who had put in such an enormous amount of their own time recently.

We have achieved two major grant offers in the last month. The first, from the Football Foundation was for just under £20k. Some elements of the offer needed further consideration so we have not announced this externally yet. The other major award was from Veolia through the land fill tax scheme. We were awarded £25k, an excellent result at one level, but disappointing in that it was only half that which we applied for.

In terms of events, the Quiz night was a fantastic effort from Janet and Nigel Watkins and was also an excellent turn out. We had over 150 people and raised nearly £2k.

Two weeks later we were the main charity from the Fashion Show at the Village Hall and we benefitted to the tune of around £1k. Rukshana Masters, who runs Rukshana in Claygate was the organiser and did an outstanding job.

The Sandown Park Race day was also excellent - generating around £5k and raising our public profile substantially. The Claygate Clubhouse Handicap Hurdle was on TV and David Milner presented the cup for our race to the winning owner. We also received the backing of the Esher MP Dominic Raab. It was a shame that a few more couldn’t have shared the day, but many thanks to Blue Square who made the event possible.

The next event is our dinner dance this Friday 26^th November. Tickets are £30. The club awards will be made that night, Danny will be doing the food and we will have a live band until midnight. Come and enjoy the evening!

In December we have arranged with South West Trains for carol singing at Claygate station on Friday 17^th December. Please let Ruth Cecil (ruthcecil@dial.pipex.com) know if you are able to take part. It should be a fun night, all for a good cause and of course we’ll all end up in the pub afterwards.

In the New Year we have a Sportsman’s Dinner on Thursday 13^th January at the Bengal Lancer with Gareth Batty of Surrey CCC and Tony Gale, the Sky Sports pundit and a premiership title-winning footballer with Blackburn Rovers. The evening will comprise of a full Indian buffet and will be hosted by Ian Darke. Please book your tickets now from James McPhail (Jimmymac818@hotmail.com) for what will be an excellent night. Tickets are £25.

There will be other events coming along in the New Year after that – a music evening in Village Hall, a Golf Day at Surbiton Golf Club and so on. We hope you will be able to support as many of these as possible

If we add in the loans from some of the senior players, we have reached an incredibly impressive figure of £250k in just 6 months. However!  This is still someway short of our total and we have to redouble our efforts in the next couple of months to try and bridge that gap. We cannot start building until we can persuade Elmbridge that we have the total funds assured.

Six months on we are still struggling to sell bricks to members!  Buy your brick now...and if you have any other fund raising ideas in mind please get in contact.

Beyond the events and fundraising activities , over the last 4 or 5 weeks we have been going through the tendering process and have had detailed responses back from a number of builders.  We are currently working through our favoured bids in a process called value engineering. In other words trying to ensuring that we will get what we need and want...and what we can afford. We expect that process will be completed by the end of November.

When we have the outcome of that we will have a much clearer idea of what final sum we will need to start and when we might expect to start building. At the earliest however it will be March. This has the advantage of being out of the worst of the winter but the disadvantage that construction will go on throughout next season.

We aim to issue another newsletter towards Christmas to let you know of further progress.

Nigel Abbott/Richard Waller

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Esher MP backs the Claygate Clubhouse project 

Supporting the Claygate Clubhouse project at Sandown Park were: front row right to left, Esher councillor David Archer ,Dominic Raab MP, Esher councillor Simon Waugh. Back row centre, Claygate Clubhouse project manager Richard Waller and left, Claygate Recreation Ground Trust chairman, Nick Hayes. 

Esher MP Dominic Raab has backed the initiative to build a new sports clubhouse on Claygate Recreation Ground to replace the existing 60 year-old facility.

Mr Rabb was speaking at an event at Sandown Park Race course which had just staged the ‘Blue Square supporting Claygate Clubhouse Handicap Hurdle’ as part of the afternoons racing. (Saturday 6^th November)

Mr Raab commented, “This is an excellent community-led project. I applaud those who are driving the scheme forward. Whether you enjoy football, cricket or the flower show, the Recreation Ground is a real focal point for the village and this scheme will greatly enhance the facilities there.”
Funding bodies and local sponsors are already providing their support and many local people are working hard to make the project a success. Elmbridge Borough Council is providing a critical role in facilitating the development.

Finance for the new multi-sport club house project has come from various grants from organisations such as Elmbridge and Claygate Parish Council as well as donations and money from events, auctions and raffles. This will fund a project that will provide a large number of local people with a much needed community facility as well as a new home for Claygate Royals FC and Claygate Cricket Club.

Fundraising Coordinator Nigel Abbott said “Our thanks go to Blue Square who sponsored the race meeting and enabled the fundraising to take place. Our final figure should be close to £5k and has helped us make considerable further progress towards reaching our goal of just under £300k”

For further information please call: Nigel Abbott 01372 465350 / 07774 161634

A new clubhouse for Claygate

Progress newsletter – 3                                                                August 9^th, 2010

We’re at a critical phase...

We have had a great start, raising nearly 50% of the funding in just 4 months...but the next period is critical.  The project committee is pushing hard preparing for the construction, chasing sponsorship, planning future events and managing our grant applications. However, the overall funding picture is still not clear at the moment

What is clear however is more effort is required from club members. It is you who want this new pavilion and it is from you that we need more help.

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Cricket week wasn’t particularly successful on the field but it was for fundraising!

A large group celebrated the naming of ‘Paddy’s Bar ‘in recognition of long term service to the club by Paddy Walsh. The name ‘Paddy’s Bar’ will be used on the existing old bar and then transferred to the new clubhouse. Over £1200 was raised to sponsor the new bar

We also announced a deal with Surbiton based financial advisors Walpole Financial who have agreed to sponsor one of the two changing rooms for a deal worth £2500.This is our first commercial sponsorship announcement and we are continuing to search for others.

We had news of a personal donation from a senior Claygate resident, who having received a brick form decided instead to give us £1000. A fantastic gesture and the second on this scale from someone not directly connected with the club.

As far as the construction is concerned, the start date is dependent on how quickly our assured funds can be raised. There have been delays with the anticipated date for submission of the Building Regulations application to Elmbridge, which is now planned for this month. Short listing of potential bidders for the building works is now in progress.

We now have fundraising events planned on a monthly basis over the next period of time:

August 17th    Claygate v Surrey over 60’s

October 16^th     Quiz- at Holy Trinity Church Hall

November 26th   Dinner Dance - Village Hall

In the New Year we intend to arrange a Sportsman’s Dinner and we have plans for two exciting events at the start of next season- an attempt on the world nonstop cricket record and a charity match against a major celebrity team. 

We have sold a total of 75 bricks with a value of approx £2500. This is part of the funding initiative on which everyone can help and we need club members to buy bricks now to help our cash flow. Please sign up for your bricks as soon as possible and also ask your neighbours, friends and colleagues. The more our start date gets pushed back the more we may run into delays and difficulties with a build over the winter. The U10’s Colts side are buying a block together. A brilliant idea!

As far as the grants are concerned, the Elmbridge and Parish Council grants have enabled us to meet one of the criteria for the Veolia land tax grant - to have assured funding in place of a certain level. The Football Foundation application has been lodged, awaiting approval. The loan application to the England and Wales Cricket Board has stalled for technical reasons so some senior members have also offered possibility of loans.

This brings us to our current total...

With the grants from Elmbridge and Claygate Parish Council, funds committed from CCC, Claygate Royals and Claygate Recreation Trust, together with the amount raised from events, donations and bricks, we have assured funding in place of just over £140k. Should we need, loans from senior members will take us towards £170k.

With a project cost of £290k (minus £20k for work in kind) this leaves us £100k short.

Whilst the Football Foundation, the ECB, and Veolia may deliver this difference, we will not know the outcome until the end of October and we have to plan accordingly.

For a number of reasons it’s critical we start the project as soon as possible. Principally this is around ensuring we start groundwork at a time when we won’t be faced with costly delays or remediation work. We also have to spend the grant money within a certain financial year.

We also have a political momentum with the people that have helped us so far and the community at large, so the project team feel an imperative to start as soon as practical. We will also not get Elmbridge approval to start work until they are convinced that we have the funds in place to complete the project.

So where does this leave us overall?

As you can see however, the overall picture is not certain at the moment and we are monitoring this on a day-by- day basis.

What is clear is more effort is required from club members. It is you who want this new pavilion and it is from you that we need more help.

Whilst brick selling overall has been good, less than 10 have been sold to club members. Many have said ‘I will do it soon’. Now is the time, and not just from ourselves, but friends, relatives and contacts.

We would like every member of the club to have an individual target of selling at least five bricks.This could help the funding by another critical £10k.

You will shortly be receiving a letter from our President David Milner together with brick forms. Please try and make this happen and happen quickly!

We also need more ideas for events and fundraising and people willing to step up to the mark to actually manage something.  At the moment it is resting on the shoulders of a small group of people who have taken responsibility. We need more help!

In simple terms it’s vital that everyone understands the situation overall and the importance of the next two months.

Your club needs you...!

Nigel Abbott (Fundraising) Richard Waller (Project management)

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Gascoigne Billinghurst

Claygate demonstrate successful 1960’s youth policy - 18th August  

The fruits of Claygate’s youth development policy of the early 1960 blossomed yesterday at Dalmore Avenue when the ‘little village side from Surrey’ demonstrated its strength in the senior ranks - producing a decisive 6 wicket victory against a Surrey Over 60’s side.

Winning the toss and on a damp track, Claygate inserted the visitors and soon had the ‘county boys’ in trouble after Alan McKinley struck twice it the opening overs. Andy Spector took the catch of the day as the ‘Hand of Specs’ grasped a stinging drive from Surrey skipper Mike Byford,  himself an England player with a century against the Australians to his name. Despite a tumbling, diving, athletic collapse, Spector held-on, to turn the game decisively in Claygate's favour. The home side then followed up with tight bowling from the ferocious pace attack of Jon Law (two wickets), Steve Wells and Des Cecil. Russ Guyatt picked up two wickets in his first eight over spell since 1968.

Claygate's simple strategy of ‘feed ‘em enough hot dogs and cream cakes till they burst’, looked short of the mark as Surrey reduced the home side to 18 for 4 in the first six overs, until Richard Waller (aged 106) and Russ Guyatt (aged 13) put on 110 for the 5^th wicket - both making half centuries and bringing the home side well deserved victory.

After the game skipper Nigel Abbott commented, “Today’s success was a tribute to the intense preparations, long evenings in the Griffin and dedication to the no sex no alcohol policy that we strictly enforced from early this morning. Is been a high point in a very low level career to be playing with such a group of outstanding athletes.”

The Claygate side of Spector, Cockburn-Smith, Darke, Cecil, Waller, Guyatt, Wells, Mckinley, Lewis, Law and Abbott – recorded an average age of 59.75

And there are more in the wings – Cope Morgan (sick note), Murphy (cab fare to Heathrow) Vincent, and Ross (parents took them out of school) were also in the early running for selection ...but failed to make the starting XI.

For the record we made around £250 for the clubhouse development fund and had an excellent day. Thanks to everyone who came down and helped and particularly to Surrey for the fixture. We have invited them back for return match in Cricket Week next year.

Attendance: 17

A new clubhouse for Claygate

Progress newsletter – 3                                                                August 9^th, 2010

We’re at a critical phase...

We have had a great start, raising nearly 50% of the funding in just 4 months...but the next period is critical.  The project committee is pushing hard preparing for the construction, chasing sponsorship, planning future events and managing our grant applications. However, the overall funding picture is still not clear at the moment

What is clear however is more effort is required from club members. It is you who want this new pavilion and it is from you that we need more help.

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Cricket week wasn’t particularly successful on the field but it was for fundraising!

A large group celebrated the naming of ‘Paddy’s Bar ‘in recognition of long term service to the club by Paddy Walsh. The name ‘Paddy’s Bar’ will be used on the existing old bar and then transferred to the new clubhouse. Over £1200 was raised to sponsor the new bar

We also announced a deal with Surbiton based financial advisors Walpole Financial who have agreed to sponsor one of the two changing rooms for a deal worth £2500.This is our first commercial sponsorship announcement and we are continuing to search for others.

We had news of a personal donation from a senior Claygate resident, who having received a brick form decided instead to give us £1000. A fantastic gesture and the second on this scale from someone not directly connected with the club.

As far as the construction is concerned, the start date is dependent on how quickly our assured funds can be raised. There have been delays with the anticipated date for submission of the Building Regulations application to Elmbridge, which is now planned for this month. Short listing of potential bidders for the building works is now in progress.

We now have fundraising events planned on a monthly basis over the next period of time:

August 17th    Claygate v Surrey over 60’s

October 16^th     Quiz- at Holy Trinity Church Hall

November 26th   Dinner Dance - Village Hall

In the New Year we intend to arrange a Sportsman’s Dinner and we have plans for two exciting events at the start of next season- an attempt on the world nonstop cricket record and a charity match against a major celebrity team. 

We have sold a total of 75 bricks with a value of approx £2500. This is part of the funding initiative on which everyone can help and we need club members to buy bricks now to help our cash flow. Please sign up for your bricks as soon as possible and also ask your neighbours, friends and colleagues. The more our start date gets pushed back the more we may run into delays and difficulties with a build over the winter. The U10’s Colts side are buying a block together. A brilliant idea!

As far as the grants are concerned, the Elmbridge and Parish Council grants have enabled us to meet one of the criteria for the Veolia land tax grant - to have assured funding in place of a certain level. The Football Foundation application has been lodged, awaiting approval. The loan application to the England and Wales Cricket Board has stalled for technical reasons so some senior members have also offered possibility of loans.

This brings us to our current total...

With the grants from Elmbridge and Claygate Parish Council, funds committed from CCC, Claygate Royals and Claygate Recreation Trust, together with the amount raised from events, donations and bricks, we have assured funding in place of just over £140k. Should we need, loans from senior members will take us towards £170k.

With a project cost of £290k (minus £20k for work in kind) this leaves us £100k short.

Whilst the Football Foundation, the ECB, and Veolia may deliver this difference, we will not know the outcome until the end of October and we have to plan accordingly.

For a number of reasons it’s critical we start the project as soon as possible. Principally this is around ensuring we start groundwork at a time when we won’t be faced with costly delays or remediation work. We also have to spend the grant money within a certain financial year.

We also have a political momentum with the people that have helped us so far and the community at large, so the project team feel an imperative to start as soon as practical. We will also not get Elmbridge approval to start work until they are convinced that we have the funds in place to complete the project.

So where does this leave us overall?

As you can see however, the overall picture is not certain at the moment and we are monitoring this on a day-by- day basis.

What is clear is more effort is required from club members. It is you who want this new pavilion and it is from you that we need more help.

Whilst brick selling overall has been good, less than 10 have been sold to club members. Many have said ‘I will do it soon’. Now is the time, and not just from ourselves, but friends, relatives and contacts.

We would like every member of the club to have an individual target of selling at least five bricks.This could help the funding by another critical £10k.

You will shortly be receiving a letter from our President David Milner together with brick forms. Please try and make this happen and happen quickly!

We also need more ideas for events and fundraising and people willing to step up to the mark to actually manage something.  At the moment it is resting on the shoulders of a small group of people who have taken responsibility. We need more help!

In simple terms it’s vital that everyone understands the situation overall and the importance of the next two months.

Your club needs you...!

Nigel Abbott (Fundraising) Richard Waller (Project management)

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It's all happening off the field!

Gascoigne Billinghurst to support Claygate’s new clubhouse
Second commercial sponsorship agreement now in place

Claygate Cricket Club has announced a deal with local estate agent Gascoigne Billinghurst, to sponsor a significant part of the new clubhouse on Claygate Recreation Ground

Gascoigne Billinghurst, which has branches in Claygate, Hinchley Wood, Cobham and Woking has agreed to sponsor the main clubroom in the new building for a deal worth £5000.

Gascoingne Billinghurst’s Managing Partner Simon Dunand commented, “We are delighted to be supporting this very worthwhile and much need development in Claygate. We see this as an excellent opportunity to heighten our profile locally and we have a number of plans to link up with the club in a range of different ideas and activities. We hope the club, company and community will benefit significantly.”

Claygate Cricket Club’s President David Milner commented, “This is great news for the clubhouse project and it comes at a critical stage. Over £150,000 has been raised in the last few months and the project team is energetically pursuing a number of applications for grants to match the £100,000 already pledged by Elmbridge Borough Council and Claygate Parish Council. Local residents have been tremendously helpful subscribing to the ‘buy a brick’ scheme; by supporting various events we have run to raise money, such as the ‘Circus on the Rec’ and the Summer Ball. Now we have local companies showing their commitment by sponsoring various parts of the new clubhouse.”

“However, if building is to commence in the autumn, the remaining funding needs to be in place. A number of fund-raising events, such as a Quiz Night on Sat 16^th October at Holy Trinity Church Hall are planned and we urge you to support these in order to make the new clubhouse a reality which everyone in Claygate can use as a magnificent community asset.”

This is the second commercial sponsorship of the new clubhouse adding to the announcement that Walpole Financial of Surbiton has sponsored one of the changing rooms. There are still further opportunities and if any local business is interested please contact Nigel Abbott on 01372 465350.

A new clubhouse for Claygate - Newsletter 2                                      

Lift off time!

Lots of encouraging things have happened over the last couple of weeks, building on the fantastic news of the grants from Elmbridge Borough Council and Claygate Parish Council to make an October start for building the new clubhouse a real possibility! 

Perhaps the most important and successful was the Summer Ball at Sandown Park which was brilliantly organised by Graham, Caroline and Rebecca. Capital Gold’s David Jensen hosted the auction which in its own right raised nearly £2000.  The whole evening, which was enjoyed by 130 people, raised around £4500.

Prior to that, throughout the day, ten volunteers sold bricks and ran a ‘bowling challenge’ at Claygate Flower Show. The bowling challenge in particular got everyone talking to us about our plans and there were many small cash donations. We raised about £500 and succeeded in further raising the profile of the project in the community.

The Claygate Country Five cross country race saw a team of seven take part. The undoubtedly star was Danny Simmons who appeared in a mankini - his individual bravery attracting sponsorship of nearly £200! The amount raised by the event on the day was around £1000.

A very successful colts season came to a conclusion two weeks ago and a BBQ arranged by Russ and Pam raised around £400.

All this activity means our total raised since the end of April by events and donation is now around £15k. A terrific effort in such a short period of time.

The £82k from Elmbridge and £20k from Claygate Parish Council has given us the 30% partnership funding required by one of the land fill tax community funds – this one run by Veolia. The application to the fund went in last week and we are very hopeful that this will result in a grant of several tens of thousands of pounds.

Next week is Cricket Week and in addition to playing host to five visiting sides, we are planning to announce two sponsorships - one commercial and one family based. Watch this space for news.

We have succeeded in getting our project included as the Waitrose ‘charity of the month’ for August and we will be featured in the Esher store for that period. Shoppers are given a number of tokens to spend and can then choose which charity the benefit goes to. Experience has shown that a charity can benefit by up to £1000 from such exposure. Please encourage everyone to shop at Waitrose next month!

Our arrangement with Fordhams (5% back on all sales at the end of the year) has been extended to cover rugby purchases as well, so it can continue into the autumn. Please think about this in terms of any of your sporting purchases.

Brick selling is progressing really well. It received a big boost with Phil and Marion Graham delivering over 3000 flyers around the village and this has prompted two or three forms being received every day at the moment. Some of the colts parents are also organising themselves to buy a block, devoted to a specific year group.

As far as future events are concerned we have the Over 50’s game against Surrey on Tuesday17^th August. If you have an opportunity please came down to the club to support the ‘old boys’ on that afternoon. The Quiz is scheduled for Saturday 16 October at the Church Hall. Tickets are £12.50 and include a fish and chip supper. If you can buy a table and bring a group of friends along please contact Marcus or Gareth.

Longer term, we have plans for a whole range of events which will keep activity going throughout the winter and we are even looking at activities for the start of next season. We do however still need more ideas!

Whilst recent activity has been particularly focused on fund raising, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes on the building, building structures, drainage, mechanical and electrical designs as well looking at various sustainability issues in order to finalise the Building Regulations by mid August. With the current funding situation it looks as if we may start ground works on the site by mid October.

Nigel Abbott /Richard Waller

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A new clubhouse for Claygate - Newsletter 1

Following our launch meeting in April we have much to report after a very busy three months.

There have been many challenges along the way with some positive and some less positive news, but overall we are making good progress. 

As far as the construction is concerned, contracts have been awarded to Bolton Buildings for the timber frame design, WCJ Partners for the foundation design as well as a CDM coordinator. A committee has been established between the cricket club and CRGT, chaired by Peter Andrews to oversee the construction. Due to delays caused by funding commitments from Elmbridge Borough Council and Biffa, our current best estimate for starting work has moved to October.

On the fundraising side it has been very busy.

We have applied to various funding raising bodies which are being resolved in different ways. The most important of these in terms of scale is from Elmbridge Borough Council. We currently have an application in to the Council for a grant of £72k. This is on the agenda for the Cabinet meeting at the end of July having been postponed by two months because of the General Election.

Claygate Parish Council has been very supportive from the start of the project and last Thursday they voted to commit funding of £20k to the project.

Our application to Biffa (Land Fill Tax) was turned down because of a rule change whilst we applied, and the fact that we don’t yet have 50% of funds already in the project. The Football Foundation application has been lodged awaiting approval. The loan application to the ECB has stalled for technical reasons and we may have to ask some of the senior members of the club to make a loan to cover the intervening period. Once this is in place we will then re apply to Biffa, at the same time applying to Veolia (another land full tax fund) and a number of other grant making organisations.

Through the help of our local county councillor, we have been successful in getting an initial grant of £1k from Surrey County Council with a further and larger sum likely. We are also expecting support from the CRGT and from the Football Club. We have had donations from the Sir Cliff Richard organisation, The Foley Charity and Dairy Crest and a number of other Claygate businesses have been very helpful.

The sponsorship/fundraising committee have been working hard on a number of initiatives. We have sold over £1500 worth of bricks so far and the scheme is progressing well. But we do need club members to buy bricks now to help with cash flow. Please sign up for your brick as soon as possible and ask your neighbours, friends and colleagues to help. The more our start date gets pushed back the more we may run into delays and difficulties with a build over the winter.

The first of our events, the Circus on the Rec was a great success.  We sold out and 600 people shared the evening with us. We raised nearly £3500 and this significantly helped the profile of the project locally.

We have three events in quick succession in July. The Flower Show Run is this Sunday 11^th. (have you signed up for a team yet?) -  the Flower Show itself on Saturday 17^th July when we will need volunteers to help sell bricks through the day, and then there is the Summer Ball on the evening of the 17^th July at Sandown Park. This is nearly a sell out so get in touch with Graham as soon as possible. It will be a great night!

The seniors in the club are playing a game against Surrey O50’s on Tuesday 17^th August at Dalmore Avenue so do come down to support. In addition to brick selling there will be a raffle as well. We then have our Quiz night at the Church Hall on Saturday 16th October.

We have several other big ideas on the horizon, including a Race Day at Sandown Park and a possible attempt at the world non-stop cricket record, a concert in the Village Hall and several other ideas. If you have a thought for an event, please get in touch – again it seems to be the same people who offer and run these things time and time again.

Our total raised from bricks and events is currently around £9800...and the July events should see this move to around around £15,000 by the end of the month. We will be putting a batometer display up in the clubhouse shortly to show graphically how we are doing. We are also now publishing a monthly funding report on the website.

We are doing well but we still have a very long way to go!

Nigel Abbott (Fundraising) Richard Waller (Project management)

The Claygate 5 mile run:

Seven finely honed ‘athletes’ from Claygate Cricket Club took part in the annual Claygate ‘Country Five’ cross country run in aid of the new clubhouse.

Undoubted star of the show was Danny Simmons making an appearance in a man-kini, encouraged by a boozy session at the club the night before. Danny was sponsored to the tune of £150 to brave his all on the circuit.

The Claygate runners were led home by Jamie Henderson, wearing his familiar pink and in a superb time of 33 minutes. David Price was second, obviously weighed down by the expectation of heavy sponsorship support.

Event organiser for the club Alun Cope Morgan commented “Despite the disappointment of some no-shows on the day, it was a great effort form the lads and if all the sponsorship money comes in then we hope we will raise about £1000!”

The annual five mile run attracted an entry of some 500 runners, and is organised by the Claygate Flower and Village Show Society. It is really the first event of the Flower Show which takes place text Saturday where the clubhouse development project is also well represented.

Club Secretary Rufus Legg ( centre right) shakes hands on the deal with Walpole's Ollie Slade...flanked by Alan McKinley (right) and Dave Charter ( left) both from Walpole Financial - CCC's new clubhouse sponsors! 

It’s Paddy’s Bar! - 30th July 2010

Over 100 family and friends were at the pavilion last night to celebrate the naming of ‘Paddy’s Bar ‘and to say ‘Cheers’ in recognition of long term service to the club by 79 year-old Claygate legend Paddy Walsh.

The name ‘Paddy’s Bar’ will not only be used on the existing old bar for the rest of the season but will be transferred to the new clubhouse when it is opened on the Recreation Ground next spring.

The Walsh family have a number of members of the cricket club amongst their ranks and around 30 of the family, including wife Maureen and his three daughters were there to see Paddy receive the recognition and unveil the name plate. Over £1200 has been raised from the family and from a collection last night to sponsor the new bar which brings another cash injection to the clubhouse development project.

Club spokesman Steve Wells commented “Paddy epitomises the community character of this club and has given us terrific service over the years. His own sporting abilities, particularly in golf and football, have given him the ability to understand the effect of sport on people and from his position behind the bar over the years he must have listened to, sympathised or praised countless stories of good and bad cricketing moments in an incredibly supportive way!” 

Claygate Recreation Ground Trust Chairman Nick Hayes also thanked Paddy adding “After retiring from his duties behind the bar, Paddy has continued to give us excellent service by patrolling the Rec each morning, helping us keep it clean and pristine over the last few years”.

Paddy himself was his normal self-effacing and charming self adding “It’s been a real pleasure to have been associated with the club over the years and I have really enjoyed being part of the club. I look forward to the opportunity of being able to pull the first pint in the new clubhouse in a few months time”.

But he did pour a pint in the old bar first! Grandson Rhys celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday and celebrated with a pint pulled (and paid for!) by Paddy himself!

The day the circus came to...Claygate!                            June 5^th 2010 

The circus came to town in Claygate on Thursday 3^rd June , when the first fundraising event for the new clubhouse was held on the Recreation Ground.

On a perfect early summer evening, a sell-out crowd of 600 people, watched “Happys Circus’ perform with clowns, jugglers and high wire artists who entertained the crowd  - a large number of whom were children – for around two hours. A BBQ and refreshments organised by the Cricket Club also helped the carnival atmosphere.

Happy’s operate all over the south of England principally performing for schools and charities wanting to raise funds. The circus was the first of the fundraising events being planned by the Claygate Recreation Ground Trust to raise money and awareness of the new clubhouse project.

The total estimated cost of the new clubhouse building is around £270,000. Funding has been applied for from the local authority and from a range of other grant making and sporting organisations, but there is shortfall being targeted for commercial sponsorship and fundraising.

Event co-coordinator Damian Ross from Claygate Cricket Club commented;

“We believe this was the first Circus to be held on the Recreation ground and it was fantastic to see so many children from in and around the village having such a great time. It was a ‘big hit’ and a great way to kick-off our fund raising events.”

With donations, money raised from this event and sales of the ‘Buy a brick’ campaign, the funds raised since the launch of the project already amount to several thousand pounds.

Nigel Abbott who is coordinating fundraising for the project commented. ‘It’s been a very positive first six weeks since we launched the project and the reaction from the community has been terrific. However, this is only our start and we have a long way to go. If any business is interested in associating themselves with an exciting local project, then we would be delighted to hear from them. In addition, if any individual feels they would like to support our Buy a brick’ programme or help us in any other way that would be a terrific contribution to our efforts’.