STAINDROP Parish Council has thrown its support behind a successful scheme that is getting more youngsters from their village getting involved in cricket.
Members heard during their meeting on Thursday last week how, until three years ago, there had been almost no cricket available for young children to take part in.
This changed when Raby Castle Cricket Club signed up to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) All Stars scheme aimed at those aged between four and eight.
Club secretary Stephen Cayhill, who started the scheme, told the council: “The first year I had 32 youngsters participating in the programme, the following year I had 41.
“So, obviously we are doing something right.
“Obviously those children get a little bit older and we have to do something to take them from the age of eight to 13. So, what we have done is enrolled in the latest ECB programme, which is called Dynamos.”
He added that the club now also has a successful junior section for children up to the age of 13, and players currently enjoy indoor net practice with the club.
Mr Cayhill said: “On a good night we get nearly 20 kids coming at this time of year to practice.”
However, he said these activities were putting a financial strain on the club, which did not have traditional sources of income, such as a bar, as they operate from the grounds of Raby Castle, and could not compete against the tourist attraction’s cafe and facilities.
Some of the costs, he said, included sending club members on training courses in coaching cricket, health and safety, first aid, child welfare and safeguarding.
He said: “We do raise all our own funding. We spent over £2,000 on our ground just preparing the wicket and the outfield, and that is just material costs – we have a volunteer corps that takes care of that.”
Currently the club raises its cash through raffles, race nights and a presentation night, but it needs help to grow the junior section, he said.
He added: “We have been on the go for over 125 years and we would like to appeal to the council to help us out with funding.”
In answering the parish council’s question about how much the club needed, he responded: “Anything north of a couple of hundred pounds would be useful, for example I went on a two-day coaching course late last year and the price for that was £150.
“Anything you could give us would be appreciated.”
Impressed by Mr Cayhill’s bid, the parish council agreed it would give the cricket club £500 and the cash would be available from the next financial year, which begins on April 1.
![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)
