Our Impact

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Introduction

MEASURING SUCCESS: OUR THREE OUTCOMES

It’s an exciting time for the charity as we look to build on the success of our national cricket programmes with an ambitious new strategy that ensures we deliver our life changing work to thousands more young people for years to come.

This year, we measured our impact through the following outcomes:

Improve activity levels and promote healthy lifestyles

Engagement in, and access to, inclusive physical activity with peers is essential for the physical and mental health of those we work with.

Increase confidence and
self-esteem

The growth of young people in all aspects of life is strongly linked to their confidence levels. Confidence is the foundation for young people to develop their personal skills, self-esteem and independence, which helps them lead more fulfilling lives.

Promote Social Inclusion

We want everyone to feel that cricket is a game for them. By bringing communities together through cricket, we can break down stereotypes, perceptions and develop better relationships.

OUR PURPOSE

We exist to empower and positively impact the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality.

OUR VISION

Every young person can overcome the challenges of inequality and achieve their potential.

OUR MISSION

Deliver high quality cricket programmes that will empower young people facing inequality to make positive choices, improve their health and wellbeing and achieve positive outcomes.

Impact Summary

What did we achieve?

PARTICIPATION

10,033 PARTICIPANTS ENGAGED WITH SUPER 1s, TABLE CRICKET AND WICKETZ*

COMMUNITY COACHING

7,771 HOURS OF COMMUNITY COACHING TOOK PLACE THROUGH WICKETZ AND SUPER 1s
(UP 95% ON 2020/21)

LIFE SKILLS WORKSHOPS

277 lIFE sKILLS wORKSHOPS dELIVERED
(uP 182% oN 2020/21)

SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT

246 schools engaged in our Table Cricket programme*

*See 2023 and beyond section for more information

The Impact it had?

INCLUSIVITY

93% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS
SAID THEY FELT MORE INCLUDED

ACTIVITY LEVELS

91% of our participants
said they felt more active

CONFIDENCE

88% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS SAID THEY FELT MORE CONFIDENT

RECYCLED

22,043 items of sports kit were donated to people and organisations in need

Improving Activity Levels and Promoting Healthy Lifestyles

Improve Activity Levels and Promote Healthy Lifestyles

Why focus on improving activity levels?

Young people living in or near the least affluent areas of the UK are known to be the least active and are less likely to have the opportunity to access sustained high quality structured activities. Access to sport and facilities is a major issue for young people living with a disability, and this is illustrated by the fact that there are 1.2m young people with a disability in the UK who access sport rarely or not at all.

Importance of a healthy lifestyle

Children living in deprived areas are substantially more likely to be obese. One in six children aged 5-16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem as of July 2021 and you are more likely to have lower mental health if you live with a disability. Regular activity, be it physical exercise or social activity that makes you feel like you’re part of something, is vital for young people’s physical and mental health.

Impact

FOCUSING ON IMPROVING
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH

0

health and wellbeing workshops were delivered

PARTICIPANTS WITH A DISABILITY

0 %
of participants live with a disability

ACTIVITY LEVELS

0 %
of our participants said they felt more active
0

SUPER 1s HUBS DELIVERED ACROSS 30 PROJECTS

0

Wicketz hubs delivered across 17 projects

Lane's Story

Success Stories

Humzah

Ahmed

It’s not often people know about
disabilities and sometimes they
look at it the wrong way.
Yes, we’re disabled but we can
still do the same things

It’s not often people know about
disabilities and sometimes they
look at it the wrong way.
Yes, we’re disabled but we can
still do the same things

Increase Confidence and
Self-Esteem

Increase Confidence and
Self-Esteem

Having good self-esteem is key for all aspects of life

Self-esteem and confidence are crucial to the development of young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged communities. Both can provide a springboard towards an increased sense of wellbeing and a platform to grow as a person within their community.

Regular activity improves mental health

Confidence is also key in keeping feelings of depression and loneliness at bay and our programmes offer an environment where young people can thrive through regular activity at local community hubs with peers, which can benefit all aspects of health. Taking part in regular sessions gives young people a healthy alternative to feelings of isolation and heavy social media use, both things that increase the risk of depression and anxiety.

Impact

Making friends

0 %
said they were more able to make friends when they participate in our programmes

Independence

0 %

said they felt more independent when they participate in our programmes

Self-worth

0 %

said they felt
good about themselves

Confidence

0 %

said they felt
more confident

Scarlett’s story

Success Stories

Georgie

Khristian

I wasn’t very confident at the start and I find it hard to meet new friends, but since I’ve started to come here, I feel part of a team

Promote Social Inclusion

Connecting communities

For the young people we strive to reach, providing access to free physical activity at suitable local facilities is vital. We want young people with disabilities and communities from deprived areas to feel that cricket is a game for them, and to be provided with the opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Impact of being inclusive

Our inclusive cricket programmes actively draw in young people facing the challenges of inequality to a community setting where they can be more active alongside others sharing similar daily experiences. Participating in regular local cricket sessions gives young people involved, and their parents or carers, the chance to tackle these challenges together, things which are of immense benefit to all participants.

Impact

Female participation

0 %

of all cricket programme participants were female

Donated kit

0 kgs

of sports kit saved from landfill was donated to people and organisations in need

Ethnic minority
background

0 %

of young people who participated in Wicketz came from an ethnic minority background

Community
connection

0 %

of Wicketz participants feel involved in their community

Wicketz educates on the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion

Success Stories

Young leaders

Shravani

Ukraine

It shows that cricket is not restricted to one community, or one type of person. Everyone comes together in Wicketz

Workforce

Programme workforce growth

Our national cricket programmes have developed significantly in a short period of time. By 2024 we’ll be working with every county cricket board or foundation through at least one of our programmes, and due to the introduction of our disability cricket schools programme (see 2023 and beyond), our workforce is set to grow further.

Being part of the community

Crucial to the makeup of our workforce is having knowledge of the local areas projects are delivered in and an understanding of the young people we help. For participants, this ensures that our programme delivery is of the highest quality and our Development Officers are representative of the communities they engage with. For example, for a young person with a disability, having a Development Officer deliver a session who is also living with a disability will enable them to realise that there is an opportunity to develop and fulfill their potential.

Representative workforce

All of our Development Officers understand the communities they work in, the challenges faced and the young people they’re working with.

0

Development Officers across

0

county boards/foundations delivered
our programmes

Development Officer demographic

9%

Live with a disability

Bradley's Story

2023 and beyond

Our work has an impact on young people and we have seen positive change in those regularly participating on our programmes this year, with increased levels of activity, confidence and inclusion evident throughout.

We are always planning for the coming years, reflecting on, and reviewing our programmes and how we can improve upon our already successful work.

What you can see below is our commitment to our programmes, and the participants who face the challenges of inequality they exist to help, for this and the coming years.

Learnings from 2021/22:

  • The cost-of-living issues are affecting our ability to retain Development Officers. Increased funding would help us maintain consistency.
  • As our Development Officers grow and move on to new things, some of our projects have experienced stagnation on occasion during periods of re-recruitment. We’re now building a more sustainable setup for each of our projects to ensure regular activity always continues.
  • We’re looking to increase the number of female coaches and those with disabilities working on our programmes so our workforce can be as representative of our participants as possible.
  • The cost-of-living issues are affecting our ability to retain Development Officers. Increased funding would help us maintain consistency.
  • As our Development Officers grow and move on to new things, some of our projects have experienced stagnation on occasion during periods of re-recruitment. We’re now building a more sustainable setup for each of our projects to ensure regular activity always continues.
  • We’re looking to increase the number of female coaches and those with disabilities working on our programmes so our workforce can be as representative of our participants as possible.
  • We’ll collect needed and usable data so we can ensure the privacy and safety of our participants, whilst improving how we measure the impact of our work.
  • We are reviewing our current forms, collection methods and what we need to collect to ensure we are open, transparent and clear in our reporting.
  • We’ve delivered more workshops this year than ever before, but we don’t have experts in every field. Therefore, we’re looking to work with external partners who can deliver relevant life skills workshops to the highest standards.
  • We’re still striving to make workshop delivery more consistent and impactful. We’ve learned that we need to implement further training, support and resources for our Development Officers and be more adaptable with the delivery of workshops themselves, e.g. integrating workshops into cricket sessions.
  • There was a decrease in the number of table cricket participants this year due to a change in delivery structure. But the introduction of our Disability Cricket Schools programme will mean that both the number of participants, and impact we have, will increase.

We’re looking to gain a greater understanding of the role our Sports Kit Recycling programme plays in positively impacting the environment. As part of this research, we’ll assess the programme’s impact on people and its ability to assist other organisations by supplying the most in need with kit and equipment.

  • We’ll be reviewing how we make a difference and as part of this we will need to better illustrate what we do to impact the lives of young people through our programmes.

Our focus for 2023 and beyond:

  • The cost-of-living issues are affecting our ability to retain Development Officers. Increased funding would help us maintain consistency.
  • As our Development Officers grow and move on to new things, some of our projects have experienced stagnation on occasion during periods of re-recruitment. We’re now building a more sustainable setup for each of our projects to ensure regular activity always continues.
  • We’re looking to increase the number of female coaches and those with disabilities working on our programmes so our workforce can be as representative of our participants as possible.
  • We’ll be delivering disability cricket to a minimum of 200 new special educational needs and disabilities, and additional learning needs settings (SEND in England and Scotland, ALN in Wales) through our new Disability Cricket Schools programme in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). This will bring together Table Cricket and Super 1s to make them available as part of the school curriculum, increasing awareness of, and access to, the programmes.
  • We’ll offer increased training on the systems we use, how to capture impact and how to deliver life skills workshops.
  • We want to make them feel part of the team by providing more regular and regionalised forums which lend themselves to peer to peer learning.
  • Listening and helping where we can while working more closely with the county boards. To do this we’ve introduced a new Programme Manager structure which enables us to provide more regionalised 1-1 support.
  • We want to bring our Development Officers to the forefront of our work as they’re the drivers of our impact.
  • We want to highlight their successes and champion their ability to inspire change and capture impact.
  • Our aim is to introduce a group of invested individuals (e.g. past and current participants, and those with lived experience) who are representative of the areas we work in and the young people we help, to help shape our programme’s aims and objectives moving forward.
  • Transitioning from programme participation to employment can be a big step for young people. We want to create a programme that supports and provides opportunities for our participants to feel prepared and equipped for the challenges they may face when moving into the working world.
  • We’ll be carrying out an extensive mapping exercise across our Wicketz programme to ensure we’re having maximum impact.
  • We will make sure that our disability cricket offer is available in the most suitable locations at the most suitable venues e.g., near good quality transport networks and hosted at accessible facilities.

Learn more about our programmes

Thank you

The impact highlighted in this report has been made possible thanks to the efforts of all our supporters, members, volunteers, donors, trusts and foundations and partners, who continue to help us deliver and improve upon the work we do.

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