2026 Fundraising Target

The 2026 season is an important one for the club financially as we continue to adjust to our new scale. Our annual operating costs have risen from £10k in 2017 to over £50k now while operating income has risen from £9k to £41k over the same period.

To fund the difference, we must fundraise so we can provide the best possible facilities without simply hiking membership rates to completely unaffordable levels. We have a professional grounds team which is amazing for the club but our ground carries a cost of up to £20k/year (this includes prep of all 85 wickets we need per season, seed, loam and fertiliser and the end of season renovation which is usually £4k). We do save approximately £5k per season on machinery (purchase and maintenance) by employing Willow Turfcare but it is still our biggest cost and will remain so until we have an alternative.

We raised over £5k last year to support the Cheltenham & Gloucester Hospital cancer charity which was fantastic and absolutely the right thing to do but it also affected our ability to fundraise for ourselves. In the modern era our club fundraising has hit £15-20k per year after costs but it fell to £12k last season, the lowest since 2020.

The target for fundraising this year is £22k.

This is a big target and around £100 per member but broken down, 2026 Fundraising includes the 100 club, offering summer camps, a cricket week in August, a golf day, donations, gift aid, bar income and sponsorship. It is £7.5k more than last season.

to see the latest status of this target, please visit the fundraising page

Visit the Fundraising Page

While fundraising, we have done a huge amount to alter and cut costs. In 2018-2021 we spent £5-9k per season on external coaches. This is now zero thanks to club volunteers training as coaches while certain admin & utility costs have halved. We have also made the bar twice as profitable and save £100s of pounds in fuel costs with the robot mower which has very low maintenance costs. The installation of a new rainwater harvesting tank will cut our reliance on mains water (£1.2k last season)

Our hope is that all players & families will do whatever they can to support the club whether fundraising events, training as a coach, buying food & drink at the club, playing the 100 club, donations and/or sponsorship. As a registered charity we can claim gift aid on donations and individual donations can have tax benefits too for those who donate.

For any questions please contact Will (Treasurer@poultoncricketclub.co.uk & 07765251951)