An East Lancashire cricket club has been awarded almost £20,000 to help it go green and reduce their carbon footprint.

Great Harwood Cricket Club has been given the funding from the National Lottery and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) - £10,000 and £9,800 respectively.

The Lancashire League side will be able to use the money to replace a problematic roof at their Evolve Document Solutions Cliffe Park ground, and to install solar panels on the pavilion roof.

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This is the first of a number of improvements the club is looking to make in the near future and chairman Stuart Maher said he was delighted to have received the funding.

He said: “The club would like to thanks the ECB and the National Lottery for their support in this project as we look to do our bit in the fight against climate change.

Lancashire Telegraph: The pavilion at Great Harwood Cricket ClubThe pavilion at Great Harwood Cricket Club (Image: Jason Kayley)

“The funding will allow us to save money but also reduce our carbon footprint, which is obviously very important. We just hope the sun shines so we can get the most out of the panels and enjoy some cricket.

“The club is a vital community asset, with four senior mens’ teams, two ladies’ teams, and eight junior teams as well as youngsters aged four to seven in our successful and oversubscribed All Stars cricket programme.

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“The pavilion is in constant use in the summer so anything we can do to reduce our energy requirements is very welcome.”

Great Harwood’s 1st XI finished seventh in the Lancashire League Division Two for the 2023 season, winning nine of their 22 games.

Their 2024 campaign starts on Sunday, April 14 with an away fixture at Nelson, while the 2nd XI’s Junior Division 1 season starts at home against Clitheroe on the same day.