CEO message – September 2024

Dear all,

It’s been another brilliant summer of cricket which has seen plenty of positive results for the England men’s and women’s teams, as well as another successful edition of the Disability Premier League. The latest edition of this competition is a further indicator of the advancement of inclusion within the game countrywide, as not only is the Disability Premier League final being broadcast live on Sky Sports but it’s also being played at an international venue on the same day as a major international fixture. As I’m sure you’ll recall from my previous columns, we also saw the first ever disability cricket fixtures take place at Lord’s this summer as part of a disability cricket showcase day that also shone a light on our Super 1s programme and table cricket. You can really see the progress being made.

But we still have much work to do… and following the end of our latest financial year on 30 September we now enter the final year of our current strategic cycle, where we will continue to put our aim of empowering as many young people as possible facing the challenges of inequality to fulfil their potential through our cricket programmes, at the heart of everything we do, and every decision we make.

Regular programme activity across the country is now back underway following the school summer holidays, and I’d like to thank all our Development Officers and county partners who continue to deliver such vital weekly sessions for all our participants.

I’d also like to mention our most recent centrally run event at Lord’s where Chris Cowdrey did a fantastic job hosting our Afternoon with President David Gower, which raised an invaluable £50,000. Thank you to all our friends who spoke as part of the event and paid tribute (make fun of..) our President. Big thanks also to our youth ambassador Sara Yasin who spoke very eloquently and impressively about the impact and importance of our work as someone who has come through our Wicketz programme. We’ve had some really positive feedback following the event and thank you to the committee who helped bring together such an enjoyable afternoon for our members and supporters as we build up towards our 75^th anniversary year.

There are numerous ways to support our activity and its continued growth during the final three months of 2024. Our central events team and incredible regional volunteers have many special fundraising events planned which you can book your places for via our website. There are still more to be confirmed so please do regularly check our event listings online in the coming weeks for events taking place near you.

So many people have been integral to creating such special events that provide so much fun for so many members and supporters while we fundraise. This atmosphere has been created through years of hard work and support of the charity, but sadly in this past month two of our former Chairmen, who have contributed majorly to the Lord’s Taverners we see today, have passed away.

On behalf of the charity, I’d like to send my best wishes and condolences to the family and friends of both Robin Moors and Richard Groom who have been such big and integral supporters of the charity over a long period of time. You can read brilliantly written tributes to both, penned by their friends and family, on our website by clicking on the links in this paragraph.

I hope you continue to learn more about our work and everything we’re looking to achieve as a charity in our monthly newsletters. Make sure you look out for next month’s update, which will cover our incredible Super 1s Awards Evening at the Oval that took place this week.

Best wishes,
Mark