National Croquet Week

National Croquet Week - A National Drive to Help Your Club - 18th May - 28th May 2024

This year we are partnering with the charity Dementia Carers. The week culminates in the Association Croquet Inter-Counties tournament on the south coast and in the build-up to that we will be nationally calling on the public to back a county. Each county has a separate Facebook page which will carry messages and info from the team, but also details of events going on in and around the respective counties. This model will enable a second big shout-out to pull in the public around the Golf Croquet Inter-Counties too.

In parallel to pushing club events we will be looking to draw garden croquet players into the fold via our garden membership scheme and this will be part of the national publicity mix.

We need all of you and our clubs to get involved, arrange events to welcome the public, play on the inter-county rivalry, like the War of the Roses; each county has its own nemesis county, now is the time to use that to our advantage.

If your county is not competing then it makes a great call for new players to come forward, so that in future years you too can compete at the top table and put your neighbours to the metaphorical sword.

Clubs are encouraged to try new ideas during National Croquet Week, e.g. invite schools/local interest or U3A groups/local companies to do a team building/intro session, or run fundraiser pay/play sessions.

Please, when arranging activities, make sure you post details through to marketing that way we can ensure a central register of activity to share publicly and with our charity partner, hopefully enhancing public engagement in planned activities. Also, make sure events and news are tagged to respective County Facebook pages

Supporting Materials

Play Croquet Tri-fold Leaflets with space to add club details
Tri-fold Play Croquet leaflets (PDF Print Ready With Crop Marks)
Tri-fold Play Croquet leaflets (Standard PDF)

See recorded YouTube session (to add in February after seminar) (Seminar for Clubs) covering information about the week, about the Dementia Carers, and some hints and tips.

Promoting Your National Croquet Week Events

Enlist Your Members Help Now

Ask your members to distribute flyers/posters to other social groups, local library, community noticeboards, and so on, ideally by mid-April. Make sure all members are aware of your National Croquet Week programme and are available to help.

Publicise Your Event in Local Media (Communications Toolkit)

Paul Hetherington is able to export lists of local press contacts in your area from a constantly updated press database. Contact him directly for this list.

Download a Draft Press Release

Advertise in Local Free Listings

Find out when the copy date is for any local magazines which offer free "What's On" listings. The May edition will probably be distributed during the second half of April with a copy date of late March/early April so make sure you don't miss their deadline.

Banners

If you have a suitable location, why not invest in a vinyl banner to catch the eye of passersby?

First Impressions Always Count

Make sure visitors can find you! Put up direction signs and have a friendly volunteer at the entrance to welcome visitors, direct traffic, and point them in the right direction.

Consider using an online booking system to enable visitors to book sessions such as Eventbrite See previously recorded webinar and step-by-step how-to.

Be ready place club mallets in height order and have someone on hand to offer advice. Don't be too prescriptive on mallet grips, let people find what works for them.

Younger visitors You might want to have a specific volunteer who is happy to help with younger visitors. Do you have suitable mallets? If not, why not see if you can borrow a garden croquet set or two?

Get People Playing

Most clubs will have their own method for introducing novices to croquet but the most important thing is get visitors on the lawns and playing as quickly as possible. Remember, this is just a taster - don't get bogged down in rules and tactics at this stage. Tell them about any free coaching, buddy system, new member discounts, etc. that you offer, as you go round. See Fun Games on a Croquet Lawn for some suggestions on short quick games to run during public taster sessions, including printable downloads.

Refreshments - and cake! Ever popular and a great opportunity to mention the social side of the club, give out information about your club, coaching and beginners courses, new member discounts and so on. Make sure you get contact details. And a great way to raise donations for our charity partner

About Dementia Carers

Dementia Carers provides support to carers of people affected by dementia. There are nearly one million unpaid carers who look after friends and relatives with little recognition or respite. Their fundraising team is on hand to offer any advice, ideas or materials to support your fundraising activities. Email fundrasing#dementiacarers.org.uk or call 0203 5400 700

Sharing Your Success

Clubs active on social media are encouraged to use the hashtags #croquetweek when posting about their events.
The Croquet England are active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the username @croquetengland. We will repost and share as much as can - so do tag us!
We would love to hear how your National Croquet Week activities went, please submit a short piece for potential sharing.