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Volunteers
NatWest CricketForce NatWest Oscas
Volunteer Bureaus Introduction to Cricket - Be Involved
The world of cricket relies heavily on the hard work, commitment and dedication of its volunteers.
Participation in cricket is rising and this can only be sustained with the continual involvement of existing volunteers and the recruitment of new volunteers.
Click here to view a huge library of resources relating to Volunteers, including how to get started as a volunteer, and best practice suggestions for clubs when recruiting and managing volunteers.
The Sussex Cricket Board can provide assistance with the recruitment of Volunteers in the form of 2 courses. Firstly, an 'Introduction to Cricket – Be Involved' course, which is aimed at parents of junior members to try and entice them to be more involved at the club. Secondly, a 'Cricket for Young Leaders' course is aimed to 14-18 year olds, again to introduce them to ways in which they can help. This is ECB certificated and looks great on their CVs.
On a more local level, take a look at the Sussex County Sports Partnership section on Volunteering. Here you will find information on volunteering opportunities that exist in Sussex as well as the Volunteers Reward Scheme.
NatWest CricketForce
Registrations for CricketForce 2011 now open!
Need to improve your facilities, get more volunteers, or need funding?
NatWest CricketForce (NWCF) has been designed and developed to help you as a cricket club improve your facilities, volunteer base and help to make you the heart of the local community.
There have been some incredible success stories of clubs who have used NatWest CricketForce in Sussex to raise funds and undertake large scale facilities projects. For example the Bexhill project in 2010 involved 132 volunteers in remodelling the whole pavilion, with over £10,000 of materials donated to the club at no cost.
Equally there are many clubs who have run great events that have increased membership, bar takings and volunteers as well as achieving more modest facilities projects.
In times of challenging finances, securing Grant Aid is more difficult and therefore looking towards innovative solutions through NatWest CricketForce has proven very beneficial to many cricket clubs just like your own.
53 Clubs in Sussex took part last year, and all 53 received 50 free tickets to a CB40 one day game. 15 clubs also received a visit from the Sussex players and staff. This offer is open for 2011 registered clubs as well.
To find out more about how this can help you....
- See the ‘Step by Step Guide’ of how to organise NWCF - click HERE to download yours in PDF format
- Have a look at the Case Studies on www.ecb.co.uk/natwestcricketforce This also includes details of how to register
Supporters of ECB CricketForce
The latest supporter of CricketForce is Johnjac, a leader in the supply of cricket ground equipment. Also, the latest offers form current supporters Durant Cricket and Stuart Canvas have just been released. To download details of these, click below:
Build Centre - current price list (please note these will be reviewed in January 2010, and take in to consideration the VAT increase)
For a full list of Official Supporters, visit the ECB website.
Marshall Wooldridge - ECB Insurance Brokers - Protecting your property
Click here for information from Marshall Wooldridge regarding protecting your club from Theft, Flood etc..
NatWest CricketForce is now established as the largest volunteering event in sport, a cross between 'Changing Rooms' and 'Ground Force', however it is much more than one weekend. Through the event clubs can really engage with their local community and show what an important part of this they are.
NatWest CricketForce is building a better future for cricket clubs by improving facilities, motivating people and providing a lasting legacy using self help, community support, key partners and excellent planning.
This year the ECB announced a record number of registered clubs for the event, with over 1,500 participating nationwide, and in Sussex we have had 53 clubs register, also a record. So a big thank you to all those clubs!
Over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of April, there were around 3,000 volunteers out at cricket clubs all over Sussex, helping prepare the grounds for the coming season.
The hard work and dedication of these volunteers, as well as the material and resources donated for free / discounted by various companies, means that over £1m has been invested into grass roots cricket over the weekend. Click here to view Sussex TV's video from the weekend.
12 of the registered clubs were visited over the weekend by a total of 59 people made up of the Sussex Cricket players, staff and Board members, which proved very successfull with lots of hard work completed.
In 2007 and 2008 we had an 'ECB selected National Showcase Club' (Bells Yew Green CC and St James's Montefiore CC). Following suit, this year we had our own Showcase event at Hailsham CC (one of only 3 county NWCF showcase clubs) , who managed to transform their ground by installing a new artificial pitch, painting the pavilion inside and out, building a storage compound and two new sightscreens, building a new fence around the pavilion and undertaking some pre season work on the square.
For those clubs who registered this year, the Discount Card you should have received from the ECB can continue to be used with the many companies who offer discounted products to NWCF clubs. Click here for details. If you have still not received a Discount Card, contact the ECB and they will send you one.
NatWest CricketForce 2008 attracted 85,000 volunteers from 1375 ECB affiliated clubs and an inward investment in to the community club world of an estimated £35 - £40million.
For more information on NatWest CricketForce see www.ecb.co.uk/cricketforce
Natwest Oscas
Without all the volunteers who give so much of their time to cricket, the game would not survive. To recognise these individuals, each year the ECB organise the NatWest OSCAs (Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards).
2010 Oscas supported by Gardner & Scardifield Ltd
How to nominate
You are invited to make a nomination in any of the categories listed below, using the electronic form or printable one. We expect to invite all those nominated in Sussex to the Sussex OSCAs on Thursday September 9th, for an evening event following the 3rd day’s play of the LVCC match against Northamptonshire. At this event, a Sussex winner will be announced in each category who will then be invited to the National OSCAs at Lord’s on Monday October 18th.
Closing date for nominations is Firday 16th July
Previous to last year all nominations had to be accompanied by a written citation, however to make it easier to nominate and to enable more volunteers to be appropriately recognised, again this year, if you wish to nominate someone but not put them forward to win a Sussex OSCA, you can simply complete the Nomination Form and leave the citation box empty
The categories for this year are as follows:
Behind The Scenes
Someone invisible who your club couldn’t do without!
Building Partnerships
A volunteer that has created sustainable partnerships with school, voluntary organisations, other sports and the local community.
Leagues and Boards
Dedication with results is what we are looking for here! This can be an individual or group.
Lifetime Achiever
We are looking for an individual who has made an outstanding difference to cricket for a sustained period.
NatWest CricketForce
This is for a volunteer or group of volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to the 2009 event.
Officiating – Umpires & Scorers
This award if looking for an official who has visibly increased the quantity of officials in their county.
Young Volunteer
This volunteer must be between the ages of 16 and 25.
2009
***National Winner in 'Leagues & Boards' category - Ruth Prideaux** 
On Monday the 5th October, Ruth Prideaux was awarded the National Osca in the 'Leagues and Boards' category, having won the Sussex award the month prior. All those Sussex winners who attended the awards were treated to an afternoon of entertainment, fun & games, as well food and drink. A great afternoon was had by all and congratulations go to all of our Sussex winners.
For the third year running, Sussex Cricket Board held a County OSCAs event on Friday 28th August, to reward and celebrate with those volunteers who put so much into the recreational game in Sussex.
This year’s event was bigger and better than previous years with 57 of the 70 nominees attending, and being hosted by the marvellous John Barclay!
All guests were treated to an afternoon of fine dining, entertainment in the form of a quiz and stories from his playing days, from ex Sussex and Glamorgan player, Tony Cottey. Not to mention a prime view of the Pro40 versus Durham that night, which was a spectacular win for Sussex!
Through the afternoon, all nominees, those highly commended and the winners in the 7 categories, were announced. All received certificates, and the winners also received a glass engraved award to commemorate their success. The winners and highly commended were as follows:
Young Volunteer, Winner -Joe Lamb, Highly Commended – Natasha Maharaj-Newman; Behind the Scenes, Winner - Ruth Prideaux, Highly Commended – Fred Wickens and Laurie Claydon; Building Partnerships, Winner - David Bowden; NatWest CricketForce – Luke Boorer from Hailsham CC, Outside the Scorebox – Derek Knight; Behind the Scenes, Winner - Tony Brand, Highly Commended – Michael Prentice and Malcolm Elder; Lifetime Achiever - Alan Perkins.
Photos below: Winners and Highly Commended pictured along side host John Barclay; and Lifetime Achiever Winner, Alan Perkins
2008
In 2008, 35 volunteers in Sussex were nominated and invited to the Sussex OSCAs at a Pro40 game at Hove. Prior to the game, the nominees enjoyed an afternoon of good food and company when the winners of the seven categories were announced.
Those winners, detailed below, were invited to the National OSCAs at Lord’s on Monday 13th October, where the late Dr John Dew was awarded the National Osca for Lifetime Achiever and David Bowden & Jim May were highly commended in their categories.
Young Volunteer:
Adam Maharaj-Newman
Another Way:
Jim May
Behind the Scenes:
Lakshmi Newman
NatWest CricketForce:
St James’s Montefiore CC
Building Partnerships:
David Bowden
Leagues & Boards:
Tony Millard
Lifetime Achiever:
John Dew
Volunteer Bureaus
Volunteer Bureaus can be beneficial in 2 ways as follows:
- if you’re looking to volunteer, they will have a list of available posts
- if you’re an organisation, and need volunteers, you can add them to local bureau database
Click here to download the list of Sussex Volunteer Bureaus
Introduction to Cricket - Be Involved
Need more Volunteers? If so, why not host an 'Introduction to Cricket – Be Involved' course at your club?
The 'Introduction to Cricket – Be Involved' course is designed to provide information to parents and others about how to get more widely involved in club life. In addition to coaching, the roles highlighted are as diverse as umpiring, scoring, catering, fundraising through to team managers.
The course is approximately 2 hours in duration, designed to be convenient for those adults attending mid week and post work. Approximately half the course will be delivered within a clubhouse environment, with the other half outside, on a more practical basis.
The course is delivered through the Sussex Cricket Board and is completely free. If you would be interested in running a course, please contact your Cricket Development Manager.
