2021 ANNUAL REPORT

MINUTES OF THE 2021 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 55 rules closed the restaurant, it was booked to capacity for several weeks in advance.This positive picture, however, was tempered by the irretrievable loss of revenue the club had encountered due to cancella- tions of bookings and the continued restrictions. Equally important was the fact that the club had been unable to provide a significant number of young people within the catering teams with any work for the past 12 months. For them, Ms Pursehouse believed employment at Trent Bridge was about more than simply the opportunity to earn, and she asked how many of those in the room had encountered their first steps on the employment ladder working within this sector. It brought life skills, experience and – for many – a positive first encounter withTrent Bridge that they would remember throughout their lives. The club were acutely aware that this gap would have ramifications for those young people for years to come, and this illustrated perfectly the importance of the work contin- ually being carried out by the club’s charitable arm, the Trent Bridge Community Trust. Much of the team’s work, which usually took place within schools, had not been possible during the past 12 months. However, they had found innovative ways to step up their support of those within the locality who needed them, both in relation to mental health and wellbeing and finding ways to improve their employability for the future. The continued funding from Rush- cliffe Borough Council would assist in achieving this aim and the club was very thankful for this support. Ms Pursehouse wished to thank Mr Tennant for the contribution he had made to the club as he stood down from his role, not just as Chairman but from the General Committee too. His five years as Chairman had been eventful to say the least. He started with a relegation and finished with a global pandemic and a trophy. In the middle, there were plenty of highs and lows as the game worked through a myriad of issues in trying to balance compet- ing priorities. Ms Pursehouse thanked MrTennant for the support he had shown to all of the staff and for the contribution he had made to the success of the club. She hoped time with Rita, holidays, golf and grandkids would happily fill the space that had been occupied by Notts for over 20 years and hoped his next visit toTrent Bridge involved sitting in the sun with a cold beer, relaxing and watch- ing some cricket. In summary, the club’s resolve in relation to continually making the right, if sometimes difficult, deci- sions to safeguard the future of the club – and to make a positive con- tribution to the community – would continue as the pandemic entered its second year. The donations members so gen- erously made in relation to their membership subscriptions demon- strated that the club could rely upon staunch support from the members in bad times as well as good. In re- turn, members should be reassured that being able to welcome them back intoTrent Bridge was an out- come that was driving all at the club. Ms Pursehouse then asked Mr Eatherington, the Deputy Chief Executive, to give his community update. Mr Eatherington began by saying that, whilst much of the club’s community work last year would be remembered for the impact of the pandemic, for the first half of the year it was very much business as usual for the team. During the winter of 2019 and early into spring of 2020, there was plenty of activity including: • An extension of the Lord’s TavernersWicketz Programme that included working in partner- ship with Leicestershire CCC and employing a full-time officer; • Junior Outlaws coaching sessions remaining in high demand, sur- passing the previous year in terms of participants; • Delivery of Chance to Shine continuing in 72 schools prior to lockdown in March, involving 3,937 young children; • The commencement of women’s hardball and softball winter leagues; • Walking Cricket hubs competing in their first regional competition; and • Over 100 officials and coaches trained or upskilled. However, in response to the lock- down and the restrictions in place for sport and schools, the club was forced to adapt from March onwards; both from a delivery point of view and whilst a greater understanding was sought as to the financial implications of the crisis. The vast majority of the Community & Development team were fur- loughed. However, communication with the recreational game became more important than ever and Club Development Officers remained in post to oversee this huge communi- cations effort. Supporting clubs to be financially stable had been the priority and it was pleasing to bring over £750,000 into the recreational game through ECB, Sport England and government grants. Mr Eatherington said that, whilst everyone already knew just how important volunteers were in the recreational game, they really came to the fore in the summer of 2020. There would have been no return to cricket without them.These collab- orations and partnerships across the county helped the return to cricket, which took place on Saturday 18 July 2020. With one eye on the year that had passed and another now looking directly towards the summer of 2021, the club remained hopeful of stepping up delivery again. Some particular things to look forward to included the relaunch of the countywide Kwik U9 league and establishment of new indoor junior softball leagues; and cricket being delivered under one banner in the county following the merger of the