Developing a vision for our pavilion.

Preserving a Village Club. Creating a future-proof community Hub.

Cumnor Cricket Club sits at the heart of Cumnor village just outside Oxford. For more than 125 years, the club has been a place where generations of people have come together through sport, friendship and community.

The club attracts players and members from not only Cumnor itself, but Oxford, Witney, Abingdon and surrounding villages, and has built a reputation as one of the best clubs in Oxfordshire to play competitive cricket alongside a welcoming social atmosphere. An in-house bar and regular events make the club an important summer gathering point for the village.

In recent decades the club has also become a centre for youth development. For more than 25 years we have produced talented young cricketers, and more recently we have delivered All Stars and Dynamos programmes for some 140 children every year, the first of which from 2017 now feature in our senior men’s and women’s teams.

In the past five years we have established girls’ teams and welcomed women’s cricket back to the club for the first time in 100 years. This area of the club continues to grow rapidly.

The club’s home, Park Field, is one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the county, but our facilities to support all of the above activities have reached their limit.

The Challenge

Built in the 1980s to cater for the needs of two men's teams, the clubhouse has been maximised to its current potential and is now in urgent need of refurbishment and modernisation.

Currently the building only provides:

• Basic changing and shower facilities for two teams

• Poor quality toilets that are unwelcoming for female members and spectators

• No baby-changing facilities for families

• Limited accessibility for mixed-gender teams, juniors or disabled participants

• An underused first floor that cannot currently support wider community activity

As participation grows, especially among women, girls, families and juniors, the existing facilities are no longer fit for purpose.

Our Vision

We want to transform the clubhouse into a modern, inclusive and flexible community sports hub that supports cricket while also opening the space and providing opportunities to a much wider group of people, community groups, and local businesses.

The aim is to ensure the club continues to thrive while making the clubhouse a year-round asset available for the whole community and businesses.

The redevelopment would allow us to do the following:

Improve participation in cricket

• Safe and flexible changing facilities for mixed genders and junior players

• A welcoming environment for women’s and girls’ cricket

• Better facilities for families and supporters watching matches

Create a family-friendly community venue

• Modern toilets and baby-changing facilities

• Improved social spaces for spectators and members

Activate the building beyond match days

• A redesigned first floor that could become:

• A fitness and wellbeing studio which would naturally attract more female participation in health and exercise

• A commercial venue for team away days, meetings and community gatherings which could all incorporate physical activity using the cricket field

• A venue for community groups, such as children’s birthday parties.

Support wider community sport and activity

• Accessible facilities for older adults and disabled participants with downstairs spaces made suitable for sports such as table tennis, boccia, table cricket or darts

• A hub for walking, running and cycling groups

The Project

We are planning a major refurbishment and reconfiguration of the clubhouse that will:

• Modernise changing and shower facilities

• Improve accessibility and inclusivity

• Upgrade toilets and add family facilities

• Transform underused space into flexible community and fitness areas

• Create a sustainable future for the club and its growing membership

This project services renovation of both the ground floor and the first floor and will be done in phases. Several iterations of the layout have been completed to ensure we are maximising the space we have within an achievable budget. The exact plans will be made available as we embark on this incredibly exciting project.

Phase One will encompass the first floor renovations during the Spring and Summer of 2026, while Phase Two works on the downstairs will commence in 2027.

Funding the Vision

There have been many options explored in recent years, one of which included demolishing and rebuilding a new clubhouse, but raising some £2m is just not viable in the current financial climate. Therefore our plans above are designed in a way that ensures we are being financially efficient, while achieving a project that overcomes the challenge and updates our current clubhouse footprint to modern standards. To make this project happen we are aiming to raise £200,000 in total project funding. So far we have already secured £20,000.

We are now seeking support from grant providers, local businesses, community partners and individual donors to help bring the various stages of this project to life.

What are the benefits of the project/why should you help?

• Providing modern, appropriate facilities for current club members of all ages and future generations to come

• Ensures the club can continue to be a place where young people can learn cricket, but also develop other life skills including leadership and team work

• Makes Park Field more than just cricket: Opens up the club to more community groups and people from different organisations

• Brings people together/tackles loneliness. Becomes accessible for older residents of the village to socialise and enjoy the company of others

Why It Matters

Cumnor Cricket Club is more than a sports club. It is a place where young people learn the game and build confidence, families gather to watch cricket together, new residents connect with the community and people stay active and socially engaged

By modernising the clubhouse we can protect this history while creating a more inclusive future, ensuring the club continues to serve the community for the next 100 years.