From Sale and Altrincham Messenger :-

Institute of Groundsmanship Award goes to Ashton on Mersey Cricket Club

12:10pm Friday 9th December 2011

The club officers at the awards ceremony L to R – Mark Robinson (secretary), Vivienne Duncan (membership secretary), John Watling (utilities manager), Andrew Roscow (fundrasining manager), Ian Duncan (treasurer), David Gaster (chairman)

ASHTON on Mersey Cricket Club’s ‘green’ initiatives have been rewarded with national recognition.

The club picked up the prestigious ‘Environmental Project of the Year’ award at the at the Institute of Groundsmanship awards ceremony held at the Reebok Stadium.

Hosted by talkSPORT Radio’s Mark Saggers, the awards recognise leadership, innovation and outstanding achievement across every aspect of grounds-care – from grassroots pitches to professional stadia, including all types of public and private sports venues.

Ashton on Mersey were nominated for the award by IOG north of England adviser Ian Brewster-Mather after he was made aware of the club’s tremendous strides in the field of environmental improvements by Dan Musson from the ECB.

The award is the culmination of an ambitious five-year energy efficiency project which began in 2006.

It has been managed by John Watling, who retired as club chairman this year after 13 years in the role, and fundraising manager Andrew Roscow.

The project set out five year targets to reduce energy consumption by 45 per cent and the carbon footprint by 50 per cent. This was achieved by a range of measures including upgrading existing appliances to modern highly efficient ones, installing renewable energy forms, educating club members about the energy they use and implementing new waste saving measures and recycling initiatives.

The club introduced 25 energy saving initiatives over the period including double glazed windows, low energy lighting, replacing beer chilling and bar heating systems, and loft insulation.

However by far the most impressive initiatives included the installation of solar thermal panels to heat water, installing solar light pipes in the roof to remove the need for electrical lighting during daylight hours, and the installation of 51 solar photo voltaic panels. These panels allow the club to generate its own electricity not only for internal use but electricity is actually sold back to the national grid by the club.