THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE CRICKET FOUNDATION WANT TO INSPIRE EVERY GENERATION AND COMMUNITY TO GET INVOLVED WITH CRICKET AND FULFIL THEIR POTENTIAL.
Cricket has the power to improve lives. The Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation believe cricket is uniquely placed to bring communities together, inspire lifelong friendships, improve wellbeing, and deliver social impact. Our community programmes did just that during the Easter holidays!
The Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation would not have such a wealth of free community cricket if it wasn’t for our community partners; the ACE Programme Charity, Chance to Shine, and the Lord’s Taverners.
Through these partnerships, we have been able to deliver cricket right in the heart of communities which is free for young people to take part. This has allowed us to make the game more accessible to people who may not have been able to access the sport for a variety of reasons such as cost, transport, health, and/or mental wellbeing reasons.
The ACE Programme Charity aims to build grassroots cricket programmes, develop talent pathways and talent ID systems in targeted black communities and cities across the UK.
As well as supporting the free Street hubs, Chance to Shine Street supports our school delivery, which saw us in 175 mainstream schools in the last academic year across the county and Bristol.
The Lord’s Taverners support our community offer through Wicketz who provide free cricket for young people in inner city locations, and Super1s which provides free cricket for young people with additional needs.
The Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation have always brought our community programmes together during the school holidays for cricket festivals and friendly competition. Here we have seen social cohesion in action with young people learning from each other about their communities, culture, and forming new bonds of friendship.
Over the Easter break, ACE, Street, Super1’s and Wicketz Bristol hubs came together at City Academy where over 50 participants were selected to represent their community hub in a Countdown Cricket Competition and took part in a life skill workshop. Each team displayed some strong skills with both bat and ball, as well as demonstrating courageous fielding.
Teams on their bye fixture took part in a crash course first aid workshop, delivered by Tim Sanders, a training instructor with the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS). The action-packed session covered a host a practice including, emergency response for unconscious casualties, recovery positions, slings and bandaging techniques.
Tim who has over 15 years of experience working with the RLSS said:
“It’s fantastic to see young people take an active interest in first aid at such a young age. Practices such as these are crucial in everyday life and can only equip people to better deal with emergency situations. There’s a real sense of excitement amongst the groups who are clearly thrilled to be here and take away a wealth of first aid knowledge.”
Play was paused for lunch where the young players tucked into their packed lunches. Once they had gained their sustenance, it was straight back into the competition, which saw an extremely close ACE / Street final, with ACE being victorious.
The day was supported by two outstanding volunteers from the Get into Cricket programme, Alex and Ethan White. Both Alex and Ethan have been with the Wicketz programme since its launch in 2017 and jumped at the opportunity to take part in the GCF initiative programme as soon as they were eligible in age.
Players said:
“The games are great and I enjoyed meeting other people.”
“This is a great fun event, great competition.”
Parents said:
“It was a fantastic day full of fun and happiness. It is great to see so many kids having fun. Thank you.”
Wicketz Development Manager, Sam Emmott said:
“It was great to spend the day with all three charity partners: Chance to Shine, Lords Taverners and the ACE Programme who came together for the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundations annual Easter competition. To see young people from so many different backgrounds and communities’ team up through Wicketz, Chance to Shine Street, Super1’s and ACE while competing, learning key life skills, and making friends in an inclusive setting, was a brilliant showcase of the important work all three charities do in partnership with the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation.
Steve Silk, Chief Executive of the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation said:
“Our partnerships with ACE, Chance to Shine, and the Lord’s Taverners means the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation are leading the way in taking the game to more people and engage new and diverse groups. We are now supporting more communities than ever with cricket, resulting in more people being active and reaping the health and mental wellbeing benefits the game offers. By holding these events, it allows us to use cricket as a powerful platform to bring communities together and break down social barriers. I am very excited about the community activity and seeing the opportunities our programmes are providing over the summer both individually and as a collective.”
Our community cricket programmes and events offer fun and inclusive activity for people of all ages and abilities across Gloucestershire, whilst aiming to improve people’s lives and providing opportunities through the Power of Cricket.
To find out more about the ACE, Chance to Shine Street and Super1’s programmes please click here