The Walker Ground

The trustees of the Walker Ground have all been involved with the Ground for more than 20 years and have played sports for one of our Ground user clubs. The current trustee body consists of:-

Richard Heighton (Chairman) – a former chairman of Southgate Squash & Racketball Club, Richard has represented the Club on a regular basis for over 25 years. Joining the trustee body nearly four years ago, he became chairman in April 2008.

Sandy White – Sandy started playing hockey at the Ground 65 years ago and has been a trustee for more than 30 years.

Peter Dodd – Peter also played hockey at the Ground in 1954 and has been a trustee for 25 years. Peter retires in January 2011 and we thank him for his incredible contribution to the Ground. 

Nick Salt – Nick is also an ex-chairman of Southgate Squash & Racketball Club and Oakhill Tigers Football Club. He has been a supporter of the Walker Ground for more than 30 years. Nick is a very competitive sportsman and has used his considerable experience and expertise as a business administrator and manager on behalf of the Walker Ground for the last 3 years.

Gerald Wingrove – Gerald joined Southgate Cricket Club in 1976 and played squash in the 80s. He joined the trustee body in 2006.

 We have vacancies for new trustees and would be interested to hear from anyone willing to get involved in running the ground.

The Trustee Body has been strengthened by four new recruits during the last 12 months:-

John Donnelly is a local resident who played cricket at the Ground as a Colt and has a long association with The Walker Ground. John is a member of our Ground Committee and will work closely with Gerald Wingrove on all Ground related matters.

Peter Rust lives opposite the Ground entrance and is a prominent local resident and Treasurer of the Southgate Green Association. Peter is a keen cricket fan and long term member of Marylebone CC, Middlesex County Cricket Club and Southgate CC. Peter will take a particular interest in the Trust’s relationship with local residents.

Shaun Rigg has been associated with the Ground for 40 years through the Scout group. In addition to scout related issues, Shaun will be using his expertise to address issues such as the non-playing surfaces at the Ground.

Over the recent years, the Ground’s staff and many volunteers have worked hard to secure the future of the Ground and lay the foundation for much needed improvements in facilities and an increase in sporting use. The trustees aim to provide an environment in which all Ground users work together for the good of the Ground as a whole. An example of this is the annual fireworks event, which relies on over 50 volunteers from our various user clubs. This year (2010) was successful for many reasons with money raised from this and other events being used to maintain and improve our facilities.

During 2009/10 we saw the resurfacing of the tennis / netball courts with floodlights with the aid of internal and external finances. This provides the Trust with an extension to the hours and number of sporting opportunities it can offer to the local community. In addition the Squash Club development role extended into an overall (part-time) Trust Sports Development Manager, extending the variety (Climbing wall, archery) and volume of new sporting opportunities for All – including Deaf / Partial Hearing Juniors.

Other notable developments included Corporate Cricket opportunities, football corporate hirings, further extension of the five-a-side tournament, netball tournament returning,  fully restored/updated 6 squash courts & heaters, refurbished Committee / Meeting room, upgraded Bar and soon to-be Catering area. Externally, the Grounds have received some well deserved TLC (trimmed hedges, clearing and levelling of spare ground areas) and our Rugby Club have had a much more successful year.

Our bar, real ale and sports viewing facilities were all improved enormously with the aid of our Bar Franchisee arrangement, via popular couple Rob and Pauline Lowry from our Racketball Club. Following their move to new ventures, we welcome Phil Rice as our new Bar Franchisee, who will be introducing some exciting initiatives, with our Trustees and staff in the New Year. Please continue to check our calendar for new events in the forthcoming year.

We fully support our user clubs in their efforts to achieve and maintain their England Sport ClubMark status and professionalism.

Working in partnership with our clubs, we have successfully applied for various grants and partnership funding – we would like to once again register our thanks to our local community, Enfield and Barnet Councils, ProActive London and relevant National Governing Sporting Bodies.

December 2010

Child Protection -Policy statement

The WCGT has a duty of care to safeguard all children involved in the Walker Cricket Ground from harm. All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account. The WCGT will ensure the safety and protection of all children at the Walker Cricket Ground through adherence to the Child Protection guidelines adopted by the WCGT.