First Class Comms sign up to be the headline sponsor of the Gloucestershire County Cup and Trophy for the seasons 2025 and 2026.
First Class Comms (FCC) has been a trusted business telecoms partner of the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation (GCF) and began their partnership back in 2018 to support various areas of our work that reach across our delivery region of Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire and the City of Bristol. Their continuous support has helped us to achieve our mission of getting more bats and balls into people’s hands and deliver on our purpose of improving lives through the power of cricket.
Mission and Values
FCC are on a mission to provide exceptional and tailored mobile tariffs, business phone systems and broadband services with a human touch, offering a personable service to busy business owners and Directors acting as their in-house telecoms helpdesk.
They pride themselves on their values, putting ‘Customer First’, having ‘Trusted Relationships’ and take their commitment to supporting the ‘Environment and Community’ as a “Responsible Organisation” very seriously by partnering with impactful charities, one being the GCF.
Mark Burland, Director and Founder of FCC said:
“We first met Steve and his team several years ago and were truly impressed by their deep belief in the power of cricket to enrich all demographics across the county. With this in mind, it was an easy decision to support the development and continued success of the GCF’s efforts.”
Steve Silk, CEO of the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation said:
“FCC have shown an incredible commitment to the GCF by supporting various areas of our work that has allowed us to maintain our high standards and develop key areas of the game. We are hugely grateful to FCC for their support and look forward to strengthening our partnership which will impact our work further moving forward.”
A dedicated partner
For the 2018/2019 season, FCC kicked off our partnership by becoming sponsors of the U19 T20 Blast. This enabled the GCF to offer fun, targeted cricket, at an age group that historically saw drop off. The support enabled a countywide competition that culminated with a Finals Day at the Seat Unique Stadium, enabling the players to have a ‘day in the life of being a pro’.
Despite the world closing due to the pandemic, FCC stood by the GCF to continue their partnership with us with a further three years of support. For the 2022 and 2023 seasons, FCC understood the importance of the development for the Women and Girls’ game and were keen to become the Women and Girls Performance partner. This saw the U18s County Girls touring squad of Sri Lanka kitted out looking like the elite players they were, something they richly deserved for all their hard work and the dedication they put in to representing Gloucestershire.
To continue their impactful partnership, for the 2024 season, FCC became the U16s T20 partner of the Gloucestershire Youth Cricket League. This fantastic support meant the GCF could continue to provide greater opportunities for young cricketers to experience the highest quality of youth cricket available, preparing players to transition into adult cricket and grow in confidence to access Zonal Cricket or the Performance Pathway.
Each year the GCF arrange a charity golf day which the FCC have always supported by entering a team. This day is more than just hitting the greens and digging oneself out of bunkers, but also to raise valuable funds and support our cause, as those who come along have a shared understanding how the game is uniquely placed to bring communities together, inspire lifelong friendships, improve wellbeing and deliver social impact.
Valued customer
Throughout the duration of our partnership, the GCF have been a valued customer of FCC. Their services have been instrumental for our back of house technical requirements by providing a high-speed broadband service, reliable mobile phone connectivity and a high bandwidth leased line connection. This has ensured we stay connected with the Cricket Community and the communities we serve and are always in reach when needed.
We are exceptionally fortunate to have a partner such as FCC who understand our Mission and Purpose and are as committed to supporting the GCF and our work as they are to ensuring we, as a valued customer, are successful and feel truly valued by FCC.
If your club is experiencing poor Wi-Fi connection or considering digitising and upgrading their facilities to Create a Welcoming Environment to include items such as electronic point of sale equipment and/or televisions; applications to the County Grant Fund open in February 2025 for affiliated clubs to apply.