Please help us to preserve local cricket for future generations, and support our communities. We've approached the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of over £300,000 to create an exhibition, digital archive, and programme of outreach activities. They've approved the first stage of funding, but we need to raise £20,000 in match funding in order to unlock the full amount. Our cricket clubs and local businesses are pledging towards the target – but we need our community, people like you, to help us reach the full amount!

Amount raised so far

We're hoping to raise £18,000 from organisations and partners, but the extra £2000 through crowdfunding.

What is the Lancashire League?

Formed in 1892, the Lancashire Cricket League is a not-for-profit organisation with 24 clubs across Lancashire. Some of history's greatest cricketers have graced its pitches – from Learie Constantine and Betty Snowball to Viv Richards (pictured above at Rishton), Shane Warne and Jimmy Anderson. Now the League continues to run adult and junior competitions for men, women, boys and girls. Each club organises and plays over 100 matches per season.

What is the project all about?

The Lancashire League Experience aims to promote and preserve local cricket heritage, and build stronger relationships between our clubs and other community organisations. We are creating enduring resources – from oral histories and images in a digital archive and physical exhibition, and repeatable activities in education and health, to develop knowledge, skills and abilities in our wider community. You might have seen some of the coverage we've had in the press, and the BBC documentary about the League and its legacy.

There is a huge wealth of material from the League's history that we will collate and preserve for future generations. Pictured above is Jimmy Anderson looking through one of the scrapbooks. We will record oral histories with the League's older former players and supporters to make their stories available to the public; and in partnership with Lancashire Archives, we will train volunteers to catalogue the memorabilia at their clubs and in the private collections of members. For example, Burnley Civic Trust has acquired the entire archive of about four million published and unpublished photographs from the Burnley Express, Colne Times, Nelson Leader and Clitheroe Times.

We are also planning a number of learning, research and engagement programmes. Amongst these, we are working with primary and secondary schools to develop learning materials, linked to the national curriculum that will teach social history through local cricket history, and reflect values of citizenship, such as sportsmanship, teamwork, tolerance, equality and fairness. In addition, we are planning activities with vulnerable groups in the community. Pictured above is a pilot project we held in partnership with Burnley FC, working with people with dementia.

Why do we need match funding?

We need to show the Heritage Lottery Fund that we've raised the necessary amount of match funding in order to secure the full grant of £338,700 and bring the Lancashire League Experience to life. We are receiving pledges of support from our member clubs, local businesses, Councils and members of the public.

If we don't meet our funding goal, any money raised will be distributed amongst our 24 clubs for junior cricket.

We can't do this without you!

Please support the Lancashire League Experience, and help us preserve local cricket, its rich history and community impact for many years to come.

If you have any questions or comments, please email us at info@lancsleague125.com or get in touch with us on Twitter or Facebook .