A CRICKET club has been bowled over by the support which led it to being able to replace its leaking roof.
In June 2021 Barrow Cricket Club launched a big-hitting drive to reach a total of £15,000 for a new clubhouse roof.
The club secured match-funding from Sport England for its ‘Raise the Roof’ crowdfunding project to replace the ageing pavilion roof replaced and preserve the building for years to come.
Work at the club, based at Ernest Pass Memorial Ground on Abbey Road near Furness General Hospital, has now been completed by Matthew Shaw Roofing.
The club's 1st Xl host Great Eccleston on Saturday while the 2nd Xl play Vickerstown on Sunday.
Enid Milligan, women’s representative on the committee, said: “The issue was the roof was leaking and we knew it was unstable and needed replacing as soon as possible.
“We had quotes saying that we could be looking at £30,000 which wasn’t achievable for the club on its own.
“We got the suggestion to do a crowdfunding from the local Cumbria Cricket Board.
“The idea was if we raised a certain amount, we could get a certain amount contributed by Sport England through the crowdfunding.
“The money came from a series of initiatives we did at the club.
“There were Fizzy Fridays, fundraising activities, incentives for people to sponsor the club, and we also sold benches to put around the club pitch.
“In total we got about £18,000 crowdfunded and it was a real community effort.
“A lot of people were involved in the whole thing. One of our lads even did a sponsored half marathon in all his cricket gear.
“That alone raised more than a thousand.
“After that we made the amount so much more achievable.
“We all would really like to thank all our supporters and the people who went above and beyond to support our effort to raise the money.
“People like Ben who did the run, and even people who had left Barrow.
“One guy now lives in Australia but he used to play when he was a kid. He contributed toward the fund as well.
“We are very grateful for the sponsorship from Lakeland Care and Schofield Refrigeration Services as well.”
The roof had seen a new fibreglass roof system installed by Matthew Shaw Roofing.
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