Chagford Cricket Club - Youth Update

We're delighted to be sponsoring the youth section of Chagford Cricket Club, and we're into the second year of a five year commitment.

We're always pleased to hear the Club's latest news, so Chris Mount, Cricket Youth Development Officer for Chagford Cricket Club gave us the following update:

"What a 12 months we've had since the end of the last season. On the back of the successful 2011 inaugural season, four people took coaching qualifications during the winter.

We also put our first young player forward for district trials. He was successful, trained with the South Devon Under 9 squad through the winter and has now played two matches for them. All of this whilst under 8 so he is still able to be selected in 2013.

With the introduction of the new coaches we were able to open the club sessions for 2012 to younger players, so children as young as five and six came down on Friday nights to start their cricketing journey.

What a season 2012 has been. With the continued and generous support of Helpful Holidays, Chagford Youth Cricket was able to take a giant step forward from our first year.

In 2011, we had 64 members, managed five training sessions in three age groups, had three coaches and three assistants and played two matches. We coached cricket in two schools and ran an after school club in another.

The Dartmoor Cup was formed (an inter-Primary School Competition) which saw four schools take part.

In 2012, we had 108 members, managed nine training sessions in five age groups, had six coaches and six assistants and had teams ready to play in 24 matches. One of the big introductions this season has been the addition of four managers to the organising party. Their tireless work during a difficult rain-soaked season made a vast difference to the coaches and the professional communications between coaches and children made a logistical minefield seem smooth.

We coached cricket in four schools and ran after school clubs in each. The Dartmoor Cup developed further and, driven forward by Chagford CC, brought Lewdown CC and Hatherleigh CC into the organisation. As a result 10 schools took part with 20 teams battling it out over two days for the Trophy, Shield and Cup. We also attracted an additional sponsor, Bovey Castle, who championed the schools competition.

Sponsorship from Helpful Holidays was also instrumental in setting up the exciting and completely new Under 9 Super Sundays! Up to eight teams from five clubs engaged in friendly coaching-driven matches for the under 9 and under 7 age groups. This proved very successful and we hope to develop this competition next season.

We're very proud to say that we entered our first girls team into a competition at Topsham CC this season, and if the rain hadn’t intervened, we would have hosted a competition at Chagford for six girls teams… Next year, maybe!

Chris Mount (R) with HH's Moray Bowater

Although our Chagford Youth Cricket season has drawn to a close, our season is not complete. Several of our Under 15 squad are playing senior matches against touring teams, and are pushing for 2nd team league places. We're hosting an Under 13 county match in August and our Under 11 team are playing the district Under 9 team in a friendly match on 14th August. Six of our most promising Under 9 players are having additional training throughout August and will enter district trials in early September."


Congratulations to everyone involved on a successful 2012 - it's great to see boys and girls of all ages taking part, having fun and achieving fantastic results.

If you're staying in one of our holiday cottages in Chagford, check the fixtures and pop down, you'll be made very welcome.

Helpful fund raising for the Marine Conservation Society

As we mentioned earlier on this blog, Helpful Holidays has chosen the Marine Conservation Society as its charity for 2011. As part of this initiative we’re delighted to be working with Catherine Forshall, a gifted and highly regarded painter, to raise funds for the important work of MCS.

Catherine has been invited to produce five signed, limited edition prints to be sold on an exclusive basis by the Marine Conservation Society. The prints can be viewed, together with several of Catherine’s original paintings, at the Monks Withecombe Gallery, one mile outside Chagford, and purchased from Catherine's website.

Catherine is donating 50% of the value of her print sales to the Marine Conservation Society, and says, “I have always felt that the sea is part of me. I think of the sea as this huge benign nurturing force, a source of food and energy, refreshing and invigorating. I don't want it to be poisoned for our children. That’s why I support the Marine Conservation Society. I think the work they do, raising public awareness, getting parts of our sea around Britain fully protected, improving the cleanliness of our beaches, and supporting sustainable fishing policies- is fantastic.”  

You can make a donation to MCS when you book a holiday through Helpful Holidays. All funds raised will go towards the protection of our glorious and vulnerable coastline and the preservation of the marine environment.

Messing about on the river…

The Greenbank Fal River Festival, which will run from May 27th to June 5th, is all about celebrating life on the river Fal in Cornwall.

This fantastic 10 day festival is a not-for-profit community festival, attracting more than 100,000 people to over 150 events ranging from music & drama, the arts & heritage to gig racing, swimming, walking and lots more.

For the third year running, Helpful Holidays will be sponsoring the first Saturday of the festival which is the first full day of the event following on from the launch night on Friday 27th May. Our day will see the popular “Cornwall’s Clubs & Charities” event, or “C3” as it has become known, which enables charities to showcase their services to raise funds and awareness in Events Square.

The festival was established in 2006 and will be running for its 6th year in 2011. It is a real chance to embrace the places, people, history, culture and industry that are connected by this very Cornish river. With its diverse mix of events taking place at dozens of locations around the river Fal, the festival offers something for everyone.

We’re proud to put our name to this excellent event, which is enjoyed by so many and in an area where we have a large number of holiday homes.

You can follow the festival on Facebook and on Twitter. We hope to see you there!.