Trent Bridge Annual Report 2018

MINUTES OF THE 2018 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 17 Officer, collaboration with Nottingham Trent University to access skills and advice, cataloguing of the vast collection and an ever- growing volunteer network to help deliver various projects. He hoped to reveal more of this work over the coming months ahead and looked forward to sharing it with the members. The simple remit in that area was to ultimately use the power of cricket and Trent Bridge to have a positive impact on the County. Taking cricket out to schools all over Nottinghamshire, supporting the network of recreational teams, developing new and engaging formats of the game and providing help and support to parts of the community that needed it the most, were all part of its daily work. To provide a further insight into the work of the Cricket Development team, the Player Pathway and the Trent Bridge Community Trust, he introduced three of his colleagues. Firstly, Mandy Wright (Community and Development Manager), followed by Matt Wood (Elite Pathway Manager) and finally Mark Clifford (Community Projects Manager). Community and Development Under the ‘More Play’ agenda of Cricket Unleashed, Mandy Wright reported that the department had worked hard to deliver experiences and formats that players wanted to play, developing new league formats such as a new T20 league and the Development League. • Putting more bats and balls in kids’ hands through the national launch of the ECB’s All Stars Cricket programme, over 400 children in Nottinghamshire accessed the programme delivered by 20 local cricket clubs. • Making it easier for people from all backgrounds to engage with the game by working with partners to deliver local community-based initiatives. These included Mums on the Move, a project to engage women in playing and leading cricket activity for other women, and the Wicketz programme aimed at engaging young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. • Creating informal and social settings for cricket to be played, such as Street and Walking Cricket and women’s Softball festivals, engaging new and returning players to the game. Cricket in schools remained a priority, Ms Wright assured the members. The Chance to Shine programme was delivered into 119 schools engaging over 10,000 children in cricket activity. The relaunch in 2018 was closely aligned to the All Stars programme to ensure maximum transition into local clubs. The heroes of the grassroots game – coaches, officials, volunteers and groundsmen – continued to be supported through training and grants. Over 200 people had attended courses in first aid, safeguarding, coaching and officiating. National recognition for the volunteers came at the 15th NatWest OSCAs at Lord’s in October for Andy Hunt, who won the League and Boards award for his work as Chairman of the Premier League. Cate Hayes took home the Heartbeat of the Club award for her tireless efforts at West Bridgfordians and Martin Cassidy carried off the Get the Game On award for his work as the groundsman, among many other things, at Hucknall Cricket Club. External investment continued to support the recreational game with over £40,000 adding value to the already high investment from the Club, Board and ECB. All that delivery was underpinned by the hard work of the Community and Development team, set-up to cover all aspects of cricket within Nottinghamshire, with roles covering Growth and Participation, Young People, Clubs and Leagues, Inclusion and Diversity and Workforce. The underlying aim of the team was to strive for excellence every day, to aspire to be the best and to provide anyone who wants to engage with cricket the opportunity. Priorities for the coming year would reflect those of Cricket Unleashed, with clubs at the forefront, new formats of the game, providing offerings for diverse communities, encouraging women and girls into the game and training and supporting the workforce needed to underpin it all. The commitment to this happening was an investment in the employment of three part-time Club Development Officers to support clubs and leagues to effect change and help to sustain and grow the game More positive changes during the year had seen the introduction of the new 6 Leagues meeting, bringing together all the senior leagues to encourage collaborative working, to share ideas and address common challenges. The ECB TV deal, announced in 2017, was a chance in a generation – more funding to support recreational cricket, to help stop the rise in the number of players leaving the game and to encourage new people into the game. It was an opportunity that “CRICKET IN SCHOOLS REMAINED A PRIORITY. THE CHANCE TO SHINE PROGRAMME WAS DELIVERED INTO 119 SCHOOLS ENGAGING OVER 10,000 CHILDREN IN CRICKET ACTIVITY.” Mandy Wright