On Wednesday 23rd September 2009, the new Cricket for Change indoor school was officially opened at the Cricket Centre on Plough Lane, Wallington in the London Borough of Sutton.
Many big names from the sport attended, which was an excellent reflection of the good work that the charity does, 'using cricket to change the lives of disadvantaged young people'. They included: Devon Malcolm, Cricket for Change vice president and former England fast bowler; Mike Gatting, the former Ashes winning England captain; and current England women's cricketer, Ebony Rainford-Brent, a graduate of Cricket for Change.
The indoor school was formally opened by Tom Rodwell, chief executive of Cricket for Change; John Hooper, chairman of The Lord's Taverners; and David Golton, chief executive of The London Marathon Charitable Trust. Once the formalities were over, the first official net session at the new facility took place, which included some young, talented and inspiring cricketers from the Hackney Community College and players from the England and Wales Blind Cricket Team.
The day was rounded off with a Twenty20 match between Croydon's Finest XI and a No Won Famous XI. Tom Rodwell said, "The opening of the Indoor School completes a 10 year dream of making Plough Lane into a year round facility. Over that period, Cricket for Change has invested more than £1m to transform a once derelict playing field into a state of the art cricket centre."
Valencia Communities Fund was among a select group of organisations and individuals who earned special thanks from the project, having awarded £60,000 via the Landfill Communities Fund. Others who contributed were The Lord's Taverners, The London Marathon charitable Trust, The Cloth Makers Company, Paul Wickham, Croydon Economic Development Company, Blue Sky Developments, NatWest, Barclays, Norman Pearce and Karen Day. Together they made this fantastic new facility into a reality.
