no boundaries cricket club
Stafford
No Boundaries Cricket Club is a registered (14004918) Community Interest Company
(a type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the
Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed
for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public
good. CICs are intended to be easy to establish, with all the flexibility and
certainty of the company form, but with some special features to ensure they are
working for the benefit of the community. They are overseen by the Regulator of
Community Interest Companies. It was established by Dr Simon Chowdhury and Chris
Marshall in March 2022 and the CIC36 application can be viewed here and the
Articles of Association here. Subsequently this Board Note was produced
confirming that Dr Chowdhury will be Chair and that both founding members have a
right of veto over new members, and at the same time Sandra Marshall was
appointed Company Secretary & Treasurer. Introduction As the name implies we are
a Cricket based Community Interest Company (NOT a Charity Team) whose primary
aim is to educate people on the benefits and opportunities cricket proves. We
will put together teams to introduce people to the game and from time to time we
will play games to awareness and raise funds, but we are very much a Business
aiming to make profits which in turn we will use to achieve these objectives We
have two distinct sides to the Club: On the field we aim to provide
opportunities to play cricket in the right spirit. All are welcome, but the
focus is on introducing woman and children to the game of cricket. Off the field
we aim to raise funds and awareness and run educational programs focussed on
diversity, inclusiveness, and racism and improving animal welfare. This is
important to recognise as it means we have two distinct sides to the Club which
each require their own distinct structure(s) to run. Off The Field The CIC is
fundamentally a limited company guaranteed by liability (£1 per member – which
is the CIC term for Director). There are currently three Directors, the founders
Dr Simon Chowdhury (Chair), Sandra Marshall (Company Secretary & Treasurer) and
Chris Marshall. We are open to having up to 5 Directors in due course but are in
no rush. New Directors must be appointed with a specific objective in mind and
with the relevant skill set. Anyone thinking they can contribute can put
themselves forward. It is important that the CIC does not spread itself too thin
or over extend itself so will be selective as to how many charities/causes we
actively support on an ongoing basis. We will have one per Director with that
Director being responsible for the relationship and activities relating to that
charity. Dr Chowdhury has selected the NHS, Chris being an allrounder has
elected Animal Welfare for his focus. The blog will provide awareness and
educational content for the charities and causes that we support. We will invite
guest contributors to help them develop their writing skills and presence. We
want to secure funding and grants to deliver educational programs both online
and in person with schools, clubs, organisations and communities to help
disadvantaged children to improve their lives through involvement with and
through cricket. The same applies to our animal welfare objective. We want to
promote job opportunities in and around cricket, not just playing: scoring,
umpiring, ground staff. We can set up/facilitate training programs and look at
working with local clubs to give people work experience and exposure to these
skills. On The Field We are NOT aiming to be a celebrity charity cricket club
playing at high profile venues. We will play at local clubs against the local
club with our team made up of club members, guests, and local cricketers. Our
cricket games will have two very specific objectives: 1) to support the
nominated cause, as well as our partners and sponsor, and 2) to introduce as
many boys, girls and woman as possible to the game of cricket. We will hold
coaching and playing sessions at the club on the morning for both club members
and newcomers to the game and in the afternoon, we will play a game (or games)
which allow all to play. We will introduce a recognised structure to run the
cricket side of the club: Director of Cricket, Club Captain, Vice Captains,
Safeguarding & Welfare Officer. We will keep an open mind to absorbing other
clubs into our ‘tribe’: charity specific ones and higher profile celebrity ones
which help expand our reach and ability to help more people and animals BUT we
need to walk before we run. We can maintain relationships with these clubs, and
possibly play them, but our initial priority and focus is NBCC. We will not be
paying for grounds, or for people to play. Players will cover their own costs
associated with games.
