Strathmore Cricket Club is a community run sports club, which offers cricket opportunities to people of all ages. In the last year it has extended its programmes to include provision for girls, women and people with disabilities. It also works with partners to deliver a walking sports programme catering for those who are no longer able to take part in more competitive programmes or are just looking for an enjoyable and sociable way to stay active and keep fit.
In addition to its core cricket activities, the club works with a number of other organisations to deliver community projects from its ground at Lochside Park in Forfar. These include:
- A community café – with volunteers offering a space for people to meet together and enjoy healthy, affordable, food. The café also provides a place where a number of agencies can meet with their service users in an informal atmosphere, more conducive than formal office settings. The café volunteers are also increasingly involved in growing the food that they serve.
- A Meeting Centre for people living with dementia – this is a new initiative and is designed to fill a gap in the range of services available to people living with dementia and their family carers. Meeting Centres are places where people living with mild to moderate dementia can meet and take part in a range of activities. They can also access information and meet people who can help them to adjust to and live with their condition. Meeting Centres began in the Netherlands and have proved to be very effective in helping people living with dementia to enjoy a better quality of life.
All of work that the club is engaged in requires the contributions of volunteers. It is their unique contributions that make things work.
The volunteering opportunities available at the club range from being involved in management and governance to assisting with very practical aspects of ground upkeep. They involve sports coaching, catering, befriending, gardening and much more.
The club has been successful in securing funds from the Volunteer Support Fund to employee a Volunteer Development Worker until at least March 2024.
This worker will help the club to develop its arrangements for recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers – ensuring that all volunteers enjoy a positive volunteering experience, which contributes to their personal development and quality of life.
The Club has a strong commitment to making its activities as inclusive as possible – and that includes the volunteering opportunities it offers. The Volunteer Development Worker will be expected to place a high priority on recruiting volunteers from more excluded groups in the community and making sure that they are well supported