Friends Of Grace Road
FoGR Events
Annual FoGR Quiz Night
The next FoGR Quiz Night will be held in the Charles Palmer Suite on Friday 20th November 2026. Please contact Mike Siddall on 07907 892665 for further information.
Fundraising
Friends of Grace Road (FoGR), the Leicestershire, supporter-led, group of volunteers have raised £23,100 from their fundraising efforts across 2025 which has been donated to the Club.
The money has helped fund a new Rotorake scarifier costing £13,500, a new carpet for The Meet, new club flags and three water fountains for spectators.
Friends of Grace Road Chair, Mike Siddall, said: “Our small group of volunteers has managed to raise a fantastic amount of money to support the Club. Thanks go to all those who have supported FoGR by way of purchasing cakes, 50/50 raffle tickets, Lucky Squares or taking part in our annual quiz.
Friends of Grace Road Café
Situated in the kiosk on the ground floor of the Meet, the FoGR Café offers a wide range of home-made cakes and tray bakes along with hot drinks.
Café Opening Times:
Rothesay County Championship
First three days – 2.30 to 4.30 pm (2.00 to 4.00 pm during September)
For the first three days of matches in April & September the café will be open from 10am to Noon for the sale of hot drinks & tray bakes.
Metro Bank One-Day Cup and England Women’s ODIs
2.00 to 4.00 pm for matches starting at 11:00.
Opening times will vary for matches with a later start time. Please listen for announcements at the ground.
Vitality Blast - Closed
Pre-loved Cricket Books
We have a large selection of pre-loved books in the upstairs Meet in the area named the ‘Book Nook’
50/50 Raffles
50/50 raffles are held at Vitality Blast T20 fixtures during the season.
Please look out for our FoGR 50/50 Raffle Ticket sellers. Thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket in the past and congratulations to the winners who have each gone home after the match up to £500 better off.
Lucky Squares Competitions
During the season we run a number of Lucky Squares competitions with your chance to win prizes including lunch in the Charles Palmer Suite, a round of golf, LCCC shirt, pictures, FoGR cakes, bottles of gin, whisky and wine and many other prizes.
Friends of Grace Road (FoGR) have blitzed their record donation, presenting an incredible £24,600 to the Club thanks to their fundraising efforts across 2024.
The supporter-led group of volunteers have made an end-of-season contribution worth £20,000, which will be spent on upgrading the Uptonsteel Stand ahead of the upcoming campaign.
It follows a mid-season donation of £4,600, which was spent on essential repairs across Uptonsteel County Ground, chiefly repairs to the blotter and the manual scoreboard clock.
Previous donations have helped renovate the Abacus Flooring Members’ Stand and Dafabet Stand, as well as open the Maurice Burrows Balcony – each investment helping to enhance the matchday viewing experience.
Friends of Grace Road Chair, Mike Siddall, said:
“I am proud that our small group of volunteers has managed to raise such a fantastic amount of money to support the Club.
“Our thanks go to all those who have supported FoGR during the season by way of purchasing cakes, 50/50 raffle tickets, Lucky Squares or taking part in our quiz.
“Having funded the refurbishment of the seats in the Members’ and Dafabet Stands, we are pleased that the money will go towards the renovation of the Uptonsteel Stand.”
Leicestershire CCC CEO, Sean Jarvis, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Friends of Grace Road for their outstanding generosity. A donation of that amount is testament to the hard work of their volunteers, as well as the immense popularity of their homemade cakes and fundraising events throughout the year.”
Supporters can try 2025’s first offering of delicious cakes during Leicestershire’s opening home fixture against Derbyshire, starting Friday 11 April.
Friends of Grace Road, the volunteer led supporters’ group raising funds for LCCC, held a successful 9th Annual Quiz night last Friday with twenty-six teams competing for the FoGR Pat Ball Shield.
The quiz was won by “Loads of Wisden”, comprising Mark & Awen Simpson, Paul Gudgeon and Leigh Sharman. Leicestershire member, Tim Day, kindly donated the prizes with members Roger & Rosemary Stead asking the questions.
Leicestershire players were represented by Chris Wright and Matt Salisbury, alongside former physio Will Garvey, with the event raising £700 for FoGR in support of the Club.
The photo shows FoGR Chair Mike Siddall presenting the Pat Ball Shield to the winning team “Loads of Wisden.”
Mike Siddall has been appointed Chair of Friends of Grace Road (FoGR), the volunteer supporters’ group that raises funds for the Club.
Mike, former CEO of Leicestershire CCC, takes over the role from Roy Bent, who had been interim Chair since the late John Stew retired due to ill health.
Discussing his appointment, Mike said:
“I would like to thank Roy for his hard work as interim Chair and for the many years of service he has given to FoGR.
“The group will continue with its main fundraising activities, which include selling its famous home-made cakes & hot drinks from the kiosk on the ground floor of the Meet, selling 50/50 raffle tickets at T20 games, running Lucky Squares competitions, and holding an Annual Quiz night each November.
“Our number of volunteers has dwindled over recent years and we have decided to concentrate on our four key fundraising activities. We are always on the look-out for more volunteers and helpers – if anyone would like to assist us, please call me on 07907 892665.”
FoGR’s fundraising endeavours date back to November 1970, with the Friends' first contribution to the Club presented in June 1971.
The first event, a rummage sale, was the catalyst for a long and varied series of activities, now spanning more than 50 years. Dances, skittle evenings, ‘knit-ins’, fashion shows, book sales, Christmas markets, treasure hunts and sports quizzes, to name a few, have all helped raise funds for the Club.
FoGR have gone from strength to strength since, handing over a record donation of £15,000 following the 2022 campaign, which has since been reinvested into facilitating refurbishments at Uptonsteel County Ground.