33,323 young lives transformed. Because of you.
Here's the impact your support delivered in 2024/25.
The Need: Why Our Work Matters
Tackling inequality through cricket
Before we share what your support enabled, here's why it matters.
Children from the least affluent families are significantly less active than the most affluent families; resulting in a 20% participation gap between them. Girls are also less likely to be active than boys, with just 44% of girls meeting Chief Medical Officer guidelines compared to 51% of boys.
Nearly a third of disabled children do less than 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Access to facilities, adapted equipment, and trained coaches remain the exception, not the norm. Children with two or more inequality characteristics - such as a disabled girl from a less affluent family - are 30% less likely to access sport regularly.
Even where facilities exist, cricket carries perceptions of expense, exclusivity, and complexity. For families in deprived areas and young people with disabilities, cricket can feel like someone else's game.
Your support changes this
Every programme we deliver exists to remove these barriers. Free. Inclusive. Designed for the communities we serve, with the young people we serve. What follows is the impact your support made possible.
Your Support. Their Transformation.
programme by programme, this is our impact
We wanted to reach and impact more young people without compromising the quality of their experience. The evidence shows we delivered on that promise.
Wicketz
Community cricket for young people aged 8-19 living in areas of deprivation, using cricket as a tool for social change and life-skills development.
What your support enabled:
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Hubs
brought cricket to the communities that need it most.
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Young people aged 8-19
found a place where they belonged, many for the first time.
23%
Increase in female participation
nearly 700 girls from disadvantaged communities engaged with Wicketz.
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Regional competitions and festivals
gave young people the chance to travel beyond their postcodes, compete with, and get to know, peers from different backgrounds, and experience what possibility feels like.
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Life-skills workshops
tackled real issues in their communities: conflict resolution, digital safety, employability skills, mental health awareness. Cricket was the hook. Life skills were the outcome.
57%
of participants living in the 30% most deprived areas
according to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) focusing on young people specifically backs this up, with 59% living in the 30% most deprived areas.
The Impact You Created
Through a survey of 702 participants across Wicketz, we measure what matters:
93%
Felt more active
Regular cricket sessions became the anchor for physical activity and improved physical and mental health.
97%
Felt more confident
Week after week with peers who share similar experiences built the foundation for trying new things, speaking up, taking risks.
97%
Felt more included
In communities where exclusion is the daily reality, cricket became the reason to show up, belong, and matter.
94%
Said they made new friends
since attending Wicketz young people feel like they’ve found a community with their peers, where they belong.
I feel when I play in a boys’ team I need to be on the lookout 24/7, I cannot mess up once because they will say ‘oh you can't play cricket because you’re a girl’. But in Wicketz when its all-girls I feel I can play as freely as I want and I won’t be judged.
- Wicketz participant at our girls only residential.
Where we're heading: Increased Female engagement
Female participation continues to grow and we now have 13 girls-only Wicketz hubs to address the specific barriers girls face in sport participation. But we still have more work to do, to ensure girls feel like cricket is a sport for them. Our vision is:
More Opportunity
Increase our number of girls only hubs using a place-based approach to guide us, whilst sustaining our current community and school cricket delivery engaging more women and girls.
More female role models
We aim to grow the number of female Development Officers and Youth Ambassadors to provide ‘if you can see me, you can be me’ moments across the game.
More Meaningful Partnerships
Lead the way in creating collaborations across cricket, to increase our capacity and capability to get more women and girls into the game.
Creating safe, inclusive spaces with female role models in community settings where girls feel like they belong is vital. With 2026 seeing a Women’s World Cup take place in England, the coming years are a big opportunity to play our part in ensuring all young women and girls can access the game and enjoy all its personal development benefits.
Super 1s
Community programme for young people with a disability aged 8-25, providing regular cricket, social connection, and life-skills development.
What your support enabled:
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Hubs
across every English county, Scotland and Wales. What started as scattered provision is now systematic national coverage.
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Young people with a disability
found cricket programmes designed and adapted for them.
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Residentials
including our first girls-only residential, gave participants the confidence-building experience of time away from home with peers.
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Competitions and Festivals
opportunities for young people with a disability to play competitive sport as part of a team, and learn key skills such as leadership.
18%
Increase in female participation
nearly 600 girls living with a disability engaged with Super 1s.
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Life-skills workshops delivered
focused on tooling participants with the skills and knowledge required to reach their potential.
The Impact You Created
Through a survey of 664 Super 1s participants, we measure what matters:
86%
Felt more active
Regular cricket sessions became the anchor for physical activity in lives where playing sport has too often felt out of reach.
95%
Felt more confident
Parents tell us this is the change they notice most. Their children trying things they never thought possible.
97%
Felt more included
In a world that often excludes people living with a disability, Super 1s makes inclusion the starting point, not an afterthought.
87%
Felt more independent
Confidence translates to independence. Independence translates to fuller, richer, more autonomous lives.
I thought I could never play cricket again, my social life was non-existent, I’d just lost my eye, walking football as well. I got into a really depressive state. But now, Super 1s is the best thing I do for socialising, everyone makes you feel so welcome. It’s really helpful they coach to your disability.
- Matthew, Hertfordshire Super 1s
Our Employability Model
The three-phase Super 1s offer is proving disability cricket can provide the foundation for employability skills:
Phase 1: Skills Development
Communication, independence, teamwork and leadership skills developed weekly at Super 1s sessions.
Phase 2: Confidence building
CV writing and personal development workshops. Mock interviews with real employers, interview technique training, workplace visits and ongoing mentorship.
Phase 3: Work experience
Work experience opportunities with our county partners, mainly in roles that are available on professional match days. This has involved experience in hospitality, ticketing and general ground support.
59 employability workshops delivered in 2024/25 (up from 52 in 2023/24). 197 participants engaged across 17 counties. This isn't peripheral to our cricket offer. It's central to our vision of what our Super 1s programme can help young people achieve.
Cricket in SEND Settings
Cricket sessions in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) settings to ensure young people with a disability can access appropriate forms of the game.
What your support enabled:
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SEND settings
now deliver cricket as part of their provision. This represents year-on-year growth from 769 settings in 2023/24.
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Young people with a disability
accessed cricket through SEND settings. Growth from 24,399 in the previous year.
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Hours of cricket sessions
delivered by trained coaches who offered either softball or table cricket depending on the needs of each group.
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Table Cricket Competitions
SEND settings had the opportunity to take part in our national competition, which culminates in a National Finals Day at Lord’s.
The Impact You Created
Teachers, parents and participants continue to tell us about the positive impact accessible cricket is having within SEND settings:
Pupils are happier around school
More settled in lessons
Social and emotional wellbeing increased
He was regularly buzzing for PE, asking to make sure if we were doing cricket and always bringing kit.
Every time I collected her for the sessions, she had a big smile on her face!
These sessions really boosted her confidence and self-esteem.
Table cricket is really inclusive for all our students - there’s not many team sports they can play but even those with really limited hand mobility can access the sport. It’s given them confidence and belief that they can play sport, compete, and all play with their peers. It’s that level playing field and there is a role for everyone in table cricket.
- Carina, Head of PE at Chadsgrove School
Youth Voice Drives Change
We Believe Young People Should Shape Our Future
You supported more than cricket. You supported a fundamental shift in how we operate.
Why youth voice matters
Young people living with a disability and from disadvantaged communities rarely get the opportunity to have their voice heard. Almost never given real power. We’re changing that.
Better Decisions
The decisions we make are better because Youth Ambassadors and programme participants challenge our assumptions.
More Relevant Programmes
The programmes we design are more relevant because they're informed by the people who experience them.
Co-Created Futures
The futures we're building are co-created, led by those closest to the communities our programmes exist to support.
This is leadership development changing lives and organisations simultaneously.
Youth voice isn't a programme. It's a principle. We're building it into our DNA on three levels:
Local Youth Voice
At hub and county level, young people shape the delivery they experience. Session planning. Activity choices. Hub culture and norms. Peer mentoring. Our community hubs increasingly involve participants in coaching roles, session design, and peer leadership. We empower our Development Officers to adapt their approach to youth voice according to local need, whether it be formal or informal.
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South West Wicketz Festival
Wicketz participants designed and led cricket activity for a South West Festival, empowering them as leaders among their peers. This is youth voice in action - young people leading, teaching, shaping experiences for others.
Youth Ambassador Programme
13 Youth Ambassadors aged 14-24 represent the national voice of young people with lived experience of our programmes. This two-year development programme empowers them to make a real difference to their own lives and those around them.
What makes this different:
- When we appointed our new Chair of Trustees, Youth Ambassadors weren't just consulted. They were on the selection panel.
- When we rewrote our organisational values, we didn't ask for input. We co-created them together from scratch.
- Our ambassadors participated in a three-stage public speaking and storytelling training programme. Now, when we talk about our impact, it’s our Youth Ambassadors who share their own lived experiences to bring it to life.
The impact your support created:
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supported recruitment of the Chair of Trustees
300+
hours of volunteer time given to support our cause
2500+
event guests inspired by Youth Ambassadors personal stories
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joined staff meetings to educate on their lived experience
100s
of people from local communities attended Youth Ambassador led events
The opportunities I have taken part of have led to experiences I never thought possible. I have developed skills I can use on and off the pitch and has given me confidence for my future.
- Charlie (17)
Still to come
Future Youth Board
We're not stopping at ambassadors. The next evolution of youth voice is a formal youth board that embeds young people's voices in governance. This work is in development for launch in our next strategic cycle.
Road To Increased Future Impact
The three-year transformation you made possible
Since 2022, we have modernised and developed our capability to become a more impactful charity. To ensure we could have a laser focus on our core cricket programmes and maximise their impact. Three years later, here's what we’ve achieved together.
We grew our reach by over 23,000 participants
2022-2025 Strategy: What We Achieved Together
We focused our mission
We phased out legacy programmes and grant-making to prioritise maximising our impact on young people through proven community cricket programmes where we track real change.
We built nationwide infrastructure
Super 1s continued to grow and is now delivered in every English county, Scotland and Wales. Working in partnership with ECB, Berkeley Foundation and other strategic partners, we’re now reaching and impacting more young people with a disability through the programme than ever before.
We opened new pathways
We introduced cricket in SEND settings nationally. 984 settings have received cricket delivery this year, ensuring we reached over 28,000 young people living with a disability through the game.
We prioritised women and girls
13 girls-only Wicketz hubs. Our first girls-only Super 1s residential. 29% of all programme participants are now female. We didn't just talk about closing gender gaps. We created targeted provision addressing the specific barriers girls face in sport.
We Developed our Super 1s Employability Provision
A three-phase Super 1s employability model was introduced to tool young disabled people with the required skills and experience to prepare them for future employment opportunities.
We Embedded Youth Voice
We launched a Youth Ambassador programme with real decision-making influence, which provides young people with a platform to share their lived experience. We're now developing a formal youth board.
2026-2030: Unlocking Potential Through Cricket
Our next strategic cycle taking us to 2030 has begun. We're building on the foundation you helped create and continuing to empower young people facing the challenges of inequality to fulfil their potential.
Our Ambition
Every young person can unlock and achieve their potential through cricket.
Our Mission
Be a leader in making cricket the most inclusive team sport by delivering high-quality, inclusive opportunities for young people living with a disability and for those facing socio-economic disadvantage.
Our Strategic Objectives
• Inclusive cricket programmes for young people living with a disability. • Inclusive cricket programmes for young people facing socio-economic disadvantage. • Empowering young people to shape their future, have a voice and demonstrate their capabilities. • Young people achieve positive and personal outcomes to inspire others.
Refreshed Impact Framework
We're developing a new Theory of Change and impact framework. We will continue to improve our systems and processes for data capture. In 2026, we will deliver this project to demonstrate our impact like never before.
Introducing a Youth Board
We’ve developed strong foundations of local, regional and national youth voice which leaves us well placed to create our inaugural Youth Board. Our first cohort of 13 Youth Ambassadors complete their term in June 2026, and a Youth Board is prioritised in year two of our refreshed strategy, building on our youth-focused approach.
Place-based approach
In 2022, our aim was to grow reach. We did this, surpassing 30,000 participants. However, impact requires balancing scale and quality. We adopted a place-based approach with partners to ensure relevance, and in 2026, we will strengthen quality assurance to further improve programme delivery alongside our local partners.
