On Tuesday 22nd August, the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation hosted the Cricket Collective Awards 2023 at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.
The annual reward and recognition event coincided with the Metro Bank One Day Cup game between Gloucestershire and Durham and saw over 150 volunteers in attendance.
The highlight of the day was the presentation of the ECB Cricket Collective Awards, with nine recipients honoured for their exceptional contributions to volunteering within clubs and leagues throughout the year.
The Foundation’s Workforce Development Officer, Gareth Dawson said:
“This was a fantastic event which recognised those who give up so much of their time to contribute to the day to day running of recreation cricket throughout the county. Our volunteers are the heartbeat of the community and we wanted to put on an extra special event to recognise those who had been nominated for awards.”
The 2023 Cricket Collective Award winners were:
- Connecting Communities – Irfan Malik of Bristol Pakistanis CC
- Cricket Innovator – Sathya Prakash of the Cheltenham Premier T20
- Rising Star – Piper Mabbs of Stoke Bishop CC
- Game Changer – Harrison Woodcock of Cirencester CC
- Unsung Hero – Clive Peters of Brislington CC
- Safe Hands – David Busby of Frenchay CC
- Tackling Climate Change – Frocester CC
- Ground Management Team – Twyford House CC
- Lifetime Achiever – David Dunn of Poulton CC
- Growing the Game – Neil Pope of Bishopston CC
The event also celebrated the achievements of more than 30 young participants from the Foundation’s Get into Cricket initiative, which aims to inspire 14 to 18 year olds to volunteer at their clubs, who received certificates. In addition, Matthew, Josh, Harry, James and Louis were rewarded with Get into Cricket t-shirts for completing 20 volunteering hours at their local cricket clubs.
The overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees underlines what a fantastic occasion it was, providing a fitting platform to celebrate the remarkable dedication of Gloucestershire volunteers.
Gareth went on to say:
“Well done to all those nominated, the nine ECB Cricket Collective Award winners and our Get into Cricket participants. We hope that hospitality at Glos Cricket has contributed to a day that you will remember for a long time to come. We’d also like to extend our thanks to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club for hosting our special event.”
The ECB Cricket Collective Awards take place on an annual basis and the Foundation encourages clubs to nominate their volunteers when the nominations go live in 2024. For more information, please contact Gareth Dawson – gareth.dawson@gloucestershirecricketfoundation.org.