LV= Insurance Pride of Cricket Awards 2023: Vote for your Fundraising Hero

The Pride of Cricket Awards judging panel has whittled the entry list down to a shortlist of four. Read their nominations and vote for your favourite…

Entries have been received for the LV= Fundraising Hero award for 2023.

The Pride of Cricket Awards judging panel has whittled the entry list down to a shortlist of four names.

Voting is open until Monday, July 31, 2023 at 4pm.

THE SHORTLIST

Adam Gardener, Cheshunt Rosedale CC

Jacqui Nolan, Chilcompton Sports CC

Haydn Dunath and Rob Hendy, Kineton CC

Julie Pope, Chatteris CC

VOTE FOR YOUR FUNDRAISING HERO: CLICK HERE

Adam Gardener, Cheshunt Rosedale CC

In April 2022, a Cheshunt Rosedale player lost his wife to breast cancer, leaving behind two young children.

In order to honour her memory, and all the great work she did for charity in her final years, former club chair Adam organised a weekend of fundraising for two of the charities Jennifer worked closely with: Breast Cancer Now and the Ruth Strauss Foundation.

Fundraising events took place across the weekend of the May 27 and May 28. This began with all three senior league teams in the club wearing specially made embroidered pink caps to support the fundraising efforts.

On the Sunday, Adam organised 'Jen's Day'. A signed Ben Stokes shirt was raffled, while the day included a six-a-side softball tournament. There were also a number of fun cricketing activities arranged and set up for the younger club juniors.

A cake sale and even homemade dog treats stall raised further funds, while Adam engaged local businesses to contribute. Across the weekend £2,460 was raised for the Ruth Strauss Foundation and £415 for Breast Cancer Now, none of which would have been possible without the fantastic efforts and hours of organisation by Adam.

Jacqui Nolan, Chilcompton Sports CC

It's no overstatement to say that without the tireless fundraising work of Jacqui Nolan, there would not be such a thriving Chilcompton Sports Cricket Club.

When the club was made to move away from its home of 90 years in 2015, the future looked bleak. It was clear that it would take something special – and a big sum of money – to keep it going, as it was necessary to change name (the club was formerly known as Stratton-on-the-Fosse CC), build the square from scratch and buy an entire set of fresh equipment.

Thankfully, Jacqui stepped up. A mother of a 1st XI player, she immediately set about applying to as many funders as possible: ECB, Tesco, local grant-makers and many more.

Thanks to her efforts, the money began to trickle in. Each successful fundraising application afforded another piece of desperately needed equipment: covers, sight screens, practice nets, mowers, roller refurbishment… the list goes on.

Perhaps most crucially, it meant the club  could buy junior kit. Despite a long history, it had never had a junior section. Today, it boasts a 50-strong junior section, with at least a dozen of those kids already stepping up to the weekend senior sides.

"Jacqui's fundraising prowess has secured the future of Chilcompton Sports CC," her nominator, David Travis, said.

"We estimate that Jacqui has already raised well over £40,000, and she just keeps going. Despite her son leaving the club to play a higher standard of local cricket and having to devote large chunks of time caring for her now late husband, she powers on to apply to as many grant-makers as she can."

Haydn Dunath and Rob Hendy, Kineton CC

Kineton CC have been looking to rebuild and renovate their pavilion for a number of years but finding £100,000-plus is difficult in the current climate. Haydn and Rob worked out an innovative way of building a wooden modular building, which brought the cost down considerably.

They then set about raising the cash.

To help generate the funds, they worked with a series of partners, including the local council, local trusts and the Warwickshire Cricket Board (WCB), generating about half their required amount.

Now came the charitable fundraising. Barbecues, benefit dinners, cake stalls, sponsored events and raffles, as well as donations from the local community, all contributed to the total.

For two years, Haydn and Rob burrowed away, ultimately securing the £127,000 required to build the new structure.

"The sense of community endeared by the two will see the club well for many years to come," their nominator, Andy Wyles of WCB, said.

"We at WCB use this project as a best-practice example for others to follow."

Julie Pope, Chatteris CC

In November 2022, all of Chatteris Cricket Club's ground maintenance equipment was stolen: a devastating blow to a small club made worse by the refusal of their insurance company to meet the claim. 

Not only did Julie deal with the initial fallout from the theft, but she then worked with the ECB to find appropriate grants to replace the stolen equipment – as well as launching a fundraising initiative at a local pub.

In April, she secured a grant from the ECB which, when coupled with other monies raised, enabled the club to replace the stolen equipment and begin preparations for the season. 

In between, Julie managed to get the local football club to agree to lend their field mower and other equipment on short-term loan to tide Chatteris over.

Julie is also the club's secretary, and runs and bar and clubhouse.

Clubmate Stella Wathen said: "It can't be stressed too highly that without her it is unlikely that we would have been able to play in 2023 and that the club wouldn't be in the good place it is today."