2022 ANNUAL REPORT

MINUTES OF THE 2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 61 MsWright explained that more officials and volunteers were needed in order for the forward momentum to continue. She was also hoping to attract ever- growing numbers of women and girls to participate in the East Mid- landsWomen’s Cricket League, and continue the club’s work in central Nottingham by identifying a site on which to establish a second non- traditional community cricket club. MsWright said that the supporting of leagues and clubs by offering experience and advice would help to retain those already in the game, while the Clubs and Leagues’ Strategic Group would aim to strengthen bonds with players who may have fallen out of the sport in recent years. With a countywide, decade-long facilities strategy also due to be started in the next year, there were significant challenges and tasks ahead. MsWright concluded by saying that she was well aware that those already involved in the sport were fiercely passionate.There was now a need to harness that passion to encourage ever-more Nottingham- shire residents to feel that cricket could be a game for them. Ms Pursehouse then thanked Ms Wright and asked Mark Clifford, Community Projects Manager, to give a brief update on the work of the Trent Bridge Community Trust. If a second year affected by Covid had demonstrated anything, Mr Clifford began, it was that those who had asked for help had been in greater need of our support than usual. He was proud to look back on 2021 as a year when theTrust had offered a helping hand to more people, in more areas of the city and county, than ever before. He was also excited about the plans for expansion for 2022. For many of his team’s schemes, nothing could beat face-to-face support – and that was certainly true of the Positive Futures programme. The Trust had returned to offering in-person help as soon as it was safe to do so, and ranVIP PE sessions for the very first time, with high- profile local sports people taking part in activities and discussing their careers. Mr Clifford believed that VIP PE summed up the work of Positive Futures in a nutshell, providing individual support and helping to inspire young people to raise their aspirations. He was delighted that his team would be able to expand this service into the city of Nottingham in 2022. Thanks to a £63,000 grant from SevernTrent, Positive Futures would now operate in Aspley, mirroring the programmes Mr Clifford’s team had been offering in Rushcliffe for over a decade thanks to Rushcliffe Borough Council. Elsewhere, with the pressures of modern life having shone a light on the importance of mental health, the Trust had wanted to do more to support people’s self-esteem and confidence. In May, it had launched a pilot of a new initiative, Notts in Mind, which used physical activity to kickstart potentially-difficult conversations around mental wellbeing. The pilot’s success had led to two permanent programmes being established. One, funded by the National Lottery, had taken Notts in Mind into the city; and Notting- hamshire County Council’s Social Recovery Fund had provided the means for the Trust to help individuals in Rushcliffe. The Social Recovery Fund had also allowed theTrust to expand the Forget Me Notts scheme, directly supporting two extra weekly sessions for individuals with dementia and the people who care for them. Just two years prior, Mr Clifford explained that the Trust had been offering one Forget Me Notts session per month in a café format at Trent Bridge. The Forget Me Notts diary now included events focussing on reminiscence and physical activity sessions designed to help maintain cognitive stimulation. The café sessions had effectively been housing two groups at once, Mr Clifford continued, with activities for those with dementia running alongside a forum for carers to access peer support and a little respite from their day-to-day duties. The Trust was also looking forward to holding Forget Me Notts events at two County Championship matches during the coming season, with guests able to take in the on-field action while accessing support, respite and holistic therapies. This was a great example, Mr Clifford observed, of howTrent Bridge could provide the perfect backdrop for engagement. Another example was the return of the Trent Bridge Classroom with over 250 schoolchildren having already visited in 2022 to enjoy cricket-themed learning. Trent Bridge was also providing the setting for theYouNG project’s networking events, allowing young people aged between 13 and 21 to connect with employers who could shape their careers.The project’s primary aim was to develop entrepreneurial skills – and nothing