CRICKET in Evenwood received a massive boost thanks to a £35,000 investment in new practice nets.
Practice for the village’s cricket club used to be dependent on dry weather as players moved their rolling cages over the square, but now, thanks to an all-weather surface and netting, cricketers can sharpen their skills almost all year round.
Club secretary Luke Bannister said the facility had been used every evening since construction was completed.
The new nets were made possible through a £12,000 grant from Teesdale Action Partnership (TAP), with match-funding of £12,594 from the neighbourhood budgets of county councillors Robert Potts and James Cosslett.
The club raised a further £5,000 through a Crowdfunding campaign.
Mr Bannister said: “Sport England matched it with £5,000. We would have got nothing if we didn’t hit our target. It was a year ago today that we reached the target.”
Incentives such as free teas, coaching sessions with the club pro and vouchers were offered to those who supported the Crowdfunding campaign.
Mr Bannister said the new nets would be particularly important for the four junior teams the club will field next season, as well as for the Dynamos and All Stars youth programmes.
He added: “Since [the new nets] have been up there are several lads who come up every night and they has only been up three or four weeks.”
Cllr Potts commended the work being done by the club to develop junior sport in the village.
He said: “If it helps get children off the street, then it is fantastic. Sport offers community spirit and a sense of pride in our area.”
Cllr Cosslett added: “I was thrilled for the cricketers on the completion of the nets. It is a good result for the village of Evenwood as it has been underfunded for many years now. Hopefully, we can continue to bring more funding into the area.”
Mr Bannister said: “On behalf of the club I would like to say massive thanks to the funders, the county councillors and everyone at TAP, particularly Annalisa Ward for all her help and support.
“Also Arnold Clark Community and everyone who supported the Crowdfunder, which was a monumental effort for a small village, including the local businesses FT Electrical, Hathaway Roofing, CA Group, Dufell Roofing and Medsolve.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
