Sherriff Amenity recently underlined its commitment to educating and supporting volunteers in the turf industry after proudly sponsoring both NatWest’s CricketForce initiative and The Surrey Grounds Support Network (SGSN) Conference.

NatWest’s CricketForce is the largest annual volunteering initiative in UK Sport which aims to rejuvenate the nation’s cricket facilities. It encourages cricket supporters, their friends and families, and local businesses to give something back to their local community cricket club by volunteering to participate in major renovation projects to clubhouses and grounds.

Streatham & Marlborough Cricket Club, based in Dulwich London, was the latest showcase club to be chosen by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) for 2017’s NatWest Cricket Force, and over one hundred volunteers turned up to show their support.

Families from all ages were joined by the former legendary English cricketer Mike Gatting, England and Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn and England and Surrey all-rounder Zafar Ansari, as they all pulled together to work on a number of projects such as a total re-fit of the kitchen, adding lighting to path and garages, painting all external fencing, the installation of new toilets and a general spruce up of the car-park, pavilion and bar areas.

As proud sponsors, a number of Sherriff Amenity representatives also took time out of their busy schedules to help the cause and worked alongside staff from Lister Wilder and Dennis & SISIS to help prepare the pitch for the season ahead – in which it was rolled, scarified and fed with fertiliser.

Commenting on the event, Chris Turpie – amenity specialist for Sherriff Amenity said: “The goal for the cricket club was to create a more welcoming environment for members and guests, and I believe it successfully achieved this. Obviously we were delighted to sponsor the event, donate some bags of seed and fertiliser and help prepare the pitch for the season ahead. I’ve also said that we are more than happy to go in and volunteer more of our time – to continue helping them along the way where we can.

“It was a great day for people of all ages; everyone played their part and there were even ECB coaches in attendance to run activities with the kids. It is, quite simply, a brilliant initiative which is going a long way in taking care of the future of cricket in our country.”
As long-term supporters of the Surrey Grounds Support Network, Sherriff Amenity was also delighted to play a key role in the recent annual conference which was held at The Kia Oval.
The conference, which supports recreational cricket from grassroots up, saw over 95 delegates in attendance all hoping to gain advice on cricket groundsmanship, and Sherriff were on hand to offer their expertise.

“Predominantly the conference consists of well-meaning volunteers,” said Sherriff Amenity’s James Watson. “We are there to offer advice on their own projects and try and guide them with their nutrient and chemical decisions and their seed choices, so that they are getting the best value for the money that they have got available to them – which in most cases is extremely limited.

“These are the guys that need the most help because they haven’t gone through an official training channel to become qualified groundsmen as such. These are the people that live in the village and suddenly they find themselves in charge with next to no knowledge or budget.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

Out There Services, located in Co Antrim in Northern Ireland, has invested in a new fleet of 15 John Deere commercial out-front rotary mowers. The 1580 TerrainCut models, all equipped with 62in cutting decks, were delivered this spring by Lisburn based dealer Johnston Gilpin & Co.

Formerly known as The Landscape Centre, Out There Services is now Northern Ireland’s biggest landscaping and public sector grounds maintenance contractor, with services also including tree surgery, landscape design and environmental management. The company’s broad client base includes housing associations, residential and retail developments, government bodies and local councils, schools, hospitals and sports pitches.

In addition to organisations such as PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland), Northern Ireland Water and NI Housing Executive, DARD (Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture) and CAFRE (College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise), Out There has recently signed two new grounds maintenance contracts, one with Viridian Housing Association in central London and another with Perthshire Housing Association in Scotland, as part of its policy of expansion and diversification.

The new machines replace a previous fleet of 15 John Deere 1565 front rotary mowers that were acquired on a John Deere Financial four-year contract hire package. By contrast, the current models have been bought using a hire-purchase facility provided at a very competitive rate by the company’s bank, Danske Bank in Belfast, which has been applied across the whole business, says Out There’s financial director Bronagh Vallely.

“Once we reached the end of the original four-year contract hire period and needed to replace the mowers, we decided we didn’t want to be tied to the same type of deal,” she explains. “Some machines will do more work than others, and some will still be capable of doing a year or two more depending on the hours, so we wanted the flexibility to look at each machine individually and decide what was best for the business.

“We didn’t find contract hire was a particularly good solution for us. In our business, working in a variety of public open spaces, we deal with some very rough grass conditions compared to golf clubs, for example, so we have to be able to allow for that when buying and trading in our equipment.

“We’ve actually returned to using HP,” adds Bronagh Vallely. “We can still take advantage of the capital allowances from a tax perspective and we own the machines at the end of the finance period, so we have the flexibility to decide whether to retain or replace them at that point.

“With HP we know the interest charges, so everything is budgeted for in advance over the four-year finance period. For this new purchase we also separately agreed and fixed prices with Johnston Gilpin for parts and servicing, which makes it easier for us to budget for the total fleet maintenance costs.

“The grass growing season just gets longer every year and we often start cutting in January, so reliable dealer back-up and servicing is so important. We know Johnston Gilpin’s sales manager Ricky Neill can deliver what we need whenever we need it, to help keep our machinery fleet working to its full capacity throughout the year.”