Broadbridge Heath CC celebrate £50k Olympic Legacy grant

With almost 2,000 homes being built in the Broadbridge Heath area as part of two separate developments, the cricket club hopes to make the most of the thousands of potential new members. The grant, awarded under the National Lottery Inspired Facilities Fund is part of Sport England’s Olympic legacy funding, and go towards improving facilities.

With the money, the club will enlarge and improve the changing rooms, install new showers and hot water system, modernise the toilet facilities and install new drainage. It’s not only cricket which will benefit though, as the BBH stoolball and tennis clubs make use of the clubhouse.

Chairman Tim Wells said: “Our clubhouse is more than 30 years old now and is in desparate need of refurbishment. This grant will go towards the first stage of this refurbishment.

“Future stages will include replacing the roof, building a new bar area and making the main part of the pavillion more user friendly.

“The making of the changing rooms more individial is required for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is to help with the development of our junior section. Secondly it is to help improve the facilities so that the likes of BBH Stoolball and BBH Tennis clubs can make more use of them; both of these clubs have female participants.

“We are also trying to prepare the club for the opportunities that will arise from the large scale housing developments that are happing in the village. We want to be able to attract new players to the club, and we stand a greater chance if our facilities are more up to date.”

Roffey CC have already started work on updating their changing rooms to cater for girls’ cricket after a £50,000 grant from the same fund,

Sport England announced 1,000 sports projects which will benefit from the £150million fund last week.

Sport England’s chairman, Richard Lewis, said: “With so many clubs in the South having benefitted from this fund already and building on the success of last summer, this is the legacy people want for their local community.”