Vistry East Midlands – which is building new homes under its Linden Homes and Bovis Homes brands at two locations in Northstowe, just a mile from the cricket club in Longstanton – has donated £500, bringing its sponsorship of the club to a total of £1,900 over the last three years.
In 2021, the housebuilder provided £500 for the club to buy equipment, such as helmets, pads, bats and balls, for the youth teams, and new shirts, carrying the housebuilder’s logo on the back, for the first and second teams and three youth teams.
This was followed by a further £900 donation last year which the club used to pay for new equipment and new shirts for the first and second teams. The latest donation will be used to help in the general running of the club.
Wayne Markillie, Chairman at Longstanton Cricket Club, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive yet another generous donation from Vistry East Midlands, which has been very gratefully accepted. Not only has the company given us money and supported us for three years in a row but some of our players and supporters have joined us after moving into new homes on the Vistry developments.
“Running a successful local cricket club can be an expensive operation and this latest donation of £500 will help us meet our ongoing financial outlays. Cricket is a fantastic game which can be enjoyed by everyone and the money from Vistry East Midlands will allow us to carry on providing a club where local families can come along, meet up and enjoy what we would describe as the best game in the world.”
Longstanton Cricket Club, which is based in Over Road, has seven teams for players of various ages and abilities with the first and second team and three youth teams playing in Cambridgeshire Cricket Association leagues. The club’s playing square is highly rated and Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club’s under-18s used it for two of their games in 2022.
Vistry East Midlands is building new Linden Homes properties at The Boulevards development, off Stirling Road in Northstowe, and at Bovis Homes at Northstowe, off Britannia Road.
Katie Shepherd, field sales manager at Vistry East Midlands, said: “As a housebuilder our aim is not only to build top-quality new homes and create new neighbourhoods but also to play an active and positive role within the local area.
“Over the past three years, we have built up a special relationship with Longstanton Grasshoppers Cricket Club and it is great to know that the £1,900 we have donated so far has gone to such good use, funding new equipment and shirts.
“The club is a real focus for the local community and it is good to hear that our continued sponsorship will enable it to carry on to provide a place where people of all ages can go along to play, support, help out or meet friends and neighbours in the convivial setting of an English village cricket match.”