Derbyshire Cricket Board - Club Development

We have recently received some information from Dave Leighton, The ECB Club Programmes Manager regarding the benefits of becoming a Community Amateur Sport Club (CASC) as follows, together with additional information together with information flyers which you can access at the foot of this article.

"Over the past 2 months we have been working with Sport England, CCPR and Just Giving to establish further benefits for our Cricket Clubs. I am delighted to be able to forward to you the fruits of our labours to date following a national launch at Lord's in which many Governing Bodies of sport and charities attended along with the Minister for Sport and Chief Executives of Sport England, CCPR and Just Giving. Mike Gatting spoke at the launch and cricket is ideally placed to promote the attached benefits to our clubs.

At present cricket has 1068 Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) currently growing at approx 3 clubs a month. This is the largest number of CASCs for any Governing Body of Sport. The ECB are keen to see this number grow if it suits the needs of the individual clubs. There are many advantages to our clubs not least of which is Mandatory Rate relief of 80% and in the current financial climate and with Local Authorities being sqeezed it is perhaps an important point to make. The second major reason is that CASC clubs can claim Gift Aid on all donations and fundraising which currently at 28p in the pound is a significant income stream. Only 10% of CASC clubs are currently accessing the gift aid primarily because in the past there was apathy, it was not at the forefront of club priorities or thoughts, there was a fee to pay and it was seen as bureaucratic or too much administration. Well, we have resolved all of this to make it 'FREE OF CHARGE', and a simple online application which creates more opportunity for people to donate no matter where they live (or indeed which country they live in). This should result in more fundraising/donations and therefore more gift aid for your cricket club.

I have put together some support resources for you all to use and would ask that you promote this within your club if appropriate

England and Wales Cricket Board : C/O County Cricket Ground, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0PX

Becoming a CASC has saved the club! We became CASC in June 2007. It was in fact a member of Chesterfield Borough Council that gave me the information, after I had complained about the level of rates, our rates bill was over £1000. After some paperwork, and becoming CASC that has been reduced by 80% to less than £200, the saving has allowed the cricket club to continue. The reduction on our rates bill has been the biggest saving so far.

With regard to CASC, it is important to stress to clubs that they cannot claim relief on subscriptions however, what I have done is to leave subscription levels at the same amount, but ask tax paying members to make a donation to the club, when paying their subs. This donation is therefore gift aided and we collect the relief yearly.

All clubs should be doing this to ensure the future of cricket. There are a few hoops to jump through, but nothing too onerous.

It also reminds clubs to become part of the community and encourage younger players to come along and have a go."

At the foot of this article are links to the latest insurance information from Marshall Wooldridge, Extra Cover, the Official Insurance Scheme for The ECB. In the light of many previous challenges and recent flood damage faced by cricket clubs the ECB are keen to ensure that all affiliated clubs are adequately insured and at the best available rates. With this in mind please read below and attached information. Cricket clubs will/may have their own insurance arrangements but the ECB wish to advise all clubs to check their current arrangements with their insurance company are adequate for todays needs.

Public Liability Insurance covers the Legal Liability of the Club to pay compensation to members of the public where bodily injury or damage to their property is caused in connection with club activities. Without this the cover clubs would be faced with the cost of the award of damages itself. Members of the Club personally stand to lose their home and assets, so why take the risk? It is a requirement of ECB that all clubs transact this important cover.

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance provide the directors, officers and trustees of the club with protection against civil or criminal lawsuits and regulatory proceedings. Without this cover members are placing their personal assets at risk. The cover provides a pool of money that can be drawn on to fund defence and settlement costs and pay for the costs of legal representation at investigations.

Personal Accident cover provides set benefits to all members of the club and whilst serious injuries are thankfully very rare there have been occasions where a player or official have suffered serious damage to their eyesight and even fatal accident.

Self-Employed and other Members who do not benefit from a workplace sickness scheme should ensure that any personal accident/sickness insurance they have arranged individually includes the playing of Club Cricket

The increasing trend of large Arson, Theft and Weather related claims makes it more important than ever to ensure your sums insured are adequate. Under-Insurance will lead to the total sum insured being insufficient to meet the costs of rebuilding and replacing contents/ground machinery. Ultimately this may lead to the demise of the club

The cost of business rates has long been an issue for cricket clubs but some help has been available:-

*Some Local Authorities have granted discretionary relief which may have been as high as 100% in some cases.

*Clubs which are registered as CASC's are given 80% mandatory relief which costs the Local Authority nothing since it is borne out of Central Government resources.

There have been two recent developments which may increase the business rates paid by a cricket club:-

*There have been instances where Local Authorities have removed discretionary rate relief.

*A business rate review is being undertaken by Local Authorities with new rating values applying from April 2010. Every club which is liable to pay rates should have received notice of the new rating value.

These developments have the potential to significantly increase rates bills. We would like to gauge whether as a result there will be a significant increase in rates costs for the Recreational Game nationally. Please e-mail dave.leighton@ecb.co.uk with details if your club is facing major changes in its rates bill for 2010 as a consequence of either of the above.

As part of our effort to offer additional support to Cricket Clubs throughout Derbyshire and to pass on vital information we have devised our Clubs Matter newsletter. Click on the links below to read issues one and two of this new publication. We hope you will enjoy reading them