2022 ANNUAL REPORT

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB 2022 ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 18 situations of concern helping families in cricket to receive the support they need. As ever, the backbone of our network is to be found in the clubs & leagues, and the volunteers who give freely of their time to ensure thousands of recreational cricketers can pursue their passion. Our clubs have been well supported financially, with £133,286 of investment over the past year (up from £104,000) and £42,000 of funding brought in for community cricket projects, while a new Sunday League steering group has been established to support this much- loved format of the game. Those clubs have stepped up to the plate in style.The recreational network is home to a host of newly-upskilled volunteers, with 36 umpires, 15 scorers and 138 coaches among those trained. And tales of drive, dedication and progress abound – with 150 volun- teers honoured through reward and recognition events, and 69 nomi- nations received for our Grassroots Cricket Awards. It is these individual success stories from clubs and individuals county- wide which best demonstrate the power of cricket. And with the pio- neering ACE Programme, designed to engage young people of African and Caribbean heritage and spear- headed by Ebony Rainford-Brent, now also part of our offering, plans are firmly in place to spread the word still further in 2023. The Trent Bridge Community Trust, meanwhile, has extended its reach across Nottinghamshire over the past 12 months – with the core aim of ‘changing tomorrow, today’ at the heart of all its initiatives. The Forget Me Notts programme for individuals with dementia is now well-established, with reminiscence café events and physical activity sessions catering for over 120 individuals on a weekly basis. The positive impact this has on the morale and mental wellbeing of those individuals is clear – and the culture of peer support amongst the carers who join us is invaluable in ensuring that the challenges of dementia are not faced alone. Indeed, the fact that so many carers continue to attend Forget Me Notts even after the sad passing of their loved ones is testament to the sense of community we are able to foster. The reach of Forget Me Notts has now expanded thanks to support from Nottinghamshire County Council’s Social Recovery Fund to the tune of £70,000.This has allowed us to run additional sessions and expand the Notts in Mind mental wellbeing service into Cotgrave, with specific, tailored offerings for men and women. Notts in Mind combines physical activity with education on topics such as anxiety, healthy living and substance abuse, but the social benefits can often be the clearest. Service user AaronTaylor arrived at Notts in Mind looking for support with his mental health – indeed, those 90-minute sessions were often the only time he left the house during the course of a typical week. Now, with aspirations raised and horizons broadened, Aaron serves as aWell- being Coach and Forget Me Notts volunteer at theTrust. Our other longstanding programmes for young people continue to flourish.These include theYouNG Project, which gives those between 13 and 21 the entrepreneurial skills required to become equipped for their career, and the Ready4Work scheme, where existing in-person endeavours to provide practical support for jobseekers will be accompanied by online workshops from 2023. “AS EVER, THE BACKBONE OF OUR NETWORK IS TO BE FOUND IN THE CLUBS & LEAGUES, AND THE VOLUNTEERS WHO GIVE FREELY OF THEIR TIME TO ENSURE THOUSANDS OF RECREATIONAL CRICKETERS CAN PURSUE THEIR PASSION.” Tim Eatherington