New era dawns for Thame Town Cricket Club

AFTER five years of hard work, Thame Town Cricket Club’s new Pavilion will be opened by the Mayor of Thame, Ann Midwinter and the club’s Chairman, Matt Swain, on Sunday, December 16, 2018.

Thame Cricket Club’s new club house

The previous clubhouse was converted from a disused barn, close to St. Mary’s church, by a spirited group of members in the 1970s and it served the club well over four decades. With the growth in the club’s membership and its range of activities, however, it became clear that neither the building nor its outdated facilities could continue to support the needs of several hundred regular users.

As club spokesman, Andy Jinman explained: “For most members of the club, while there was little doubt that their clubhouse had come to the end of its useful life, there were certainly mixed feelings about its demolition and what they might find underneath it! Now that its successor is complete, there is an overwhelming sense of pride in what has been achieved and of excitement for what the future holds, with the ultimate aim of becoming the best cricket club in Oxfordshire!

“The job of designing the new clubhouse fell to a local firm of architects, HollandGreen, back in 2014. The building had to be modern and accessible inside, whilst in keeping with the conservation area. The clubhouse also had to meet the current and projected needs of the community, whilst adhering to the specifications set by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“The Club is extremely grateful for the help and support of the Town Council, who shared our vision of a new sports and community building. Finally, in October 2017 the tender process resulted in the selection of specialist firm, Sports Clubhouses Ltd, who began work in January this year. Sports Clubhouses Ltd understood the needs of the club and the challenges they faced and worked with them in a collaborative and consultative manner to deliver a building not only on time, but within budget.

“Naturally, a vision can only become a reality with funding, so sincere thanks go to many people and organisations for making it possible: Thame Town Council, South Oxfordshire District Council, the ECB, LEADER, Thame Welfare Trust, Travelodge, Farol Ltd, TOE2 and Grundon Waste Management Ltd, Marston’s Brewery, the Cricket Club’s Fundraising team, The Debenture Club and everyone that bought a brick or made a donation.

With its central location reachable on foot or by bike, it is a superb venue for Cricket and a fantastic community asset. The club has already taken bookings from local companies for conferences, a martial arts group, two toddler groups, exercise classes, including yoga and pilates, birthday parties and a wedding reception. TTCC is also delighted to welcome the Thame & District Day Centre in the New Year, plus two local sports clubs who already call the clubhouse their home – first of all, Thame Cycling Club, who celebrated their fifth anniversary with a Christmas party there last weekend and secondly Thame Netball Club, established back in 2008.

“Finally, very positive news for the club on the back of the opening – Thame-based company, Field Sales Solutions have agreed to become the lead sponsor of the new Thame Town Cricket Clubhouse. Julian Cordy, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to partner with Thame Town Cricket club and the wider community of Thame, through sponsoring the new clubhouse, which is a proud new home to the cricket club, all its members, as well as Thame Cycling Club, Thame Netball club, Thame & District Day Centre and various local fitness & activity groups.”

Field Sales Solutions describe themselves as ‘working in partnership with leading consumer brands nationwide to activate sales, drive distribution and deliver return on investment, by providing ‘proud’, engaged and capable field teams; trained and empowered with clear objectives, actionable insights and effective technology, to achieve measurable sales success across retail and out-of-home’.

Julian Cordy added: “We wholeheartedly believe in partnership; our values are summarized in the phrase ‘be Proud’ and we aim to ‘make a difference’, so we are proud of this new partnership and believe it will make a difference to the community we live and work in.

“Field Sales Solutions was born in Thame as a business in 2002. Our head office in Oxford House, on Oxford Rd, is a good ‘six’ from the cricket ground.  We have grown our business consistently over the last five years, and now employ over 70 staff locally and proudly work in partnership with many other Thame businesses, so supporting the wider community through this sponsorship seems a natural step.

“We look forward to enjoying the venue ourselves as patrons and hope all enjoy this fabulous new facility of which the Town should ‘be Proud’.”

Visit the club’s website for more information – www.thamecricket.org.uk