2023 ANNUAL REPORT

MINUTES OF THE 2023 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 61 Wicketz programme for those in disadvantaged communities, which operated in St Ann’s and Sutton-in- Ashfield.The initiative had engaged over 150 young people and was as much about raising aspirations as teaching the game of cricket. We were also providing more support for disability cricket than ever before across the county, with 50 young people taking part in Super 1s last year. 18 Notts-based Special Educational Needs schools took part inTable Cricket competitions – including Mansfield’s Beech Academy, who won the Lord’s Taverners final at Lord’s. But MsWright and her team were aware that the key touchpoint for cricket in the community remained our network of recreational clubs and leagues. Once again, the club received dozens of inspirational nominations for Grassroots Cricket Awards at the end of the summer, showing that there was no shortage of dedicated and talented volunteers within our club and league network. The club continued to help clubs across the county gain the knowledge and skills they needed in order to prosper, with 70 club safeguarding officers trained to ensure the safety of young cricketers, and over 200 coaches, umpires and scorers trained in the last year. Clubs were benefitting from increased financial support too – with £130,000 invested in improving recreational club grounds and pavilions, and supporting those clubs which were struggling to retain players. At the AGM in 2024, MsWright said that she would be able to reflect on the first full year of the ACE Programme in Nottingham- shire.The club now had a full-time ACE Development Officer in place to help us engage with young people of African and Caribbean heritage. There was always more work to do, MsWright concluded, and there were always more people to inspire, but she knew that with hard work and the power of cricket, we could make sure the sport was seen as a force for good across the county. MsWright then handed over to Mark Clifford, Community Projects Manager at the Trent Bridge Community Trust. Mr Clifford began by saying that with a cost of living crisis and pressure on essential services, the demand for the work of the Trust had never been higher. His team had launched new projects to support the mental and physical wellbeing of people across the county, and had expanded existing schemes for young and old. But the challenge the charity faced in difficult financial times was to find the funding to continue supporting people to the best of its ability. One of the Trust’s greatest successes in the past year had been the Holiday Activity and Food programme. Funded by the government follow- ing Marcus Rashford’s memorable campaign, the programme provided food, sporting activities and tips on healthy living to children between six and 16. Last summer, this initiative reached 200 young people per day. In 2023, the Trust would become a lead partner of the programme alongside Nottingham Forest, with £300,000 worth of funding allowing the scheme to reach 300 young people per day – providing over 1,000 meals per week. Mr Clifford confirmed that theTrust would also work with those in their mid-teens to open their eyes to employment pathways, and use the programme to deliver cricket in some of the most deprived areas of the city. The Positive Futures programme for young people at risk of social exclusion had expanded, with support now provided in the most challenging areas of the city as well as in Rushcliffe, thanks to funding from the Police & Crime Commissioner and SevernTrent Water. Young people in the city often faced different challenges to those in the surrounding areas, but the main aim in both regions was to provide the one-to-one support that helped them remain in or move back to- wards mainstream education. The Virtual Schools Mentoring programme took a similar approach to supporting young people living in care. Mentors were funded by Not- tingham City Council to provide support and act as relatable role models for youngsters who were in care settings and had experienced significant trauma. Elsewhere, theYouNG Project and the Ready4Work scheme, which both provided career support for young people, continued to flourish, while events for Black History Month helped to raise the aspirations of teenagers through showcasing career opportunities. But the Trust’s areas of greatest growth were also where they found the largest funding challenges. Mr Clifford said that work in relation to mental health and dementia had expanded to unprecedented levels. Forget Me Notts café sessions for those living with dementia now attracted around 70 people per week to enjoy mental stimulation in a safe environment.The sessions also acted as a vital peer support network for carers. Forget Me Notts sports activities helped attendees to remain physically active and were also proving increasingly popular. Memory cafés were now in operation at the Indian Community Centre Association in the city centre, bringing dementia support to a community where assistance had not always been available. And the Notts in Mind mental wellbeing programme had expanded, offering support for men and women who needed a release from the stresses and strains of modern life.