An update from our CEO

Dear all,

I’d like to start by wishing you all a very belated Happy New Year! I hope you, your friends and families enjoyed a nice time over the festive season and have started the year feeling ready for what 2025 has in store for our charity.

As I’m sure you’re aware, this year is a special one for the Taverners as we celebrate the fact that it’s 75 years since a group of like-minded cricket enthusiasts formed the Lord’s Taverners in the Tavern at the home of cricket.

Our heritage, membership and supporter base, which has been built since 1950, has provided the foundation for us to positively impact young people living with a disability and/or from disadvantaged communities through our safe and inclusive cricket programmes nationwide today. There will be a myriad of ways to support the work of the charity throughout the year as we mark this big milestone, including a number of special events that we’ll update you on very soon. So please do throw your support behind the Tavs this year as we celebrate our history, while continuing to have a huge impact for so many in the future.

Returning to our Christmas fundraising... I hope all of you that attended one of the many fundraisers taking place across the country before the festive break had a brilliant time while helping us raise vital funds for our community cricket programmes. I’d like to say a big thank you for your support of our work in November and December. Through all of our regional Christmas events, Carol Concert, Christmas campaign and President Gower’s Christmas Quiz, we raised a significant amount of money which will go a long way towards helping the young people we exist to support. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this, whether it be buying tables and entertaining guests, through generous personal donations or running and organising events and everything else in between.

You will have read the brilliant news announced on Tuesday (28 January) that Lucy Pearson will be succeeding Tim Luckhurst as our Chair following our AGM in May. I thoroughly look forward to working with Lucy and Tim in the coming months to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible, as we approach the end of our current strategy cycle and prepare for the continuation of our successful direction of travel, with our community cricket programmes reaching more young people and having even greater impact. Lucy will bring a huge amount of experience, knowledge and passion to the role, and I know you’ll all be as excited about this appointment as I am. A big warm, Lord’s Taverners welcome Lucy!

Coming up for us next is the release of our latest Impact Report in mid-February. I always say that this is our flagship and most important document, detailing the impact we had in our most recent delivery year (1 October 2023 – 31 September 2024). Please do take the time to read it and take in some of the incredible life changing stories that our programmes have significantly contributed to. Please share this with your friends, family and business contacts to help spread the word of the amazing work we do together as proud Lord’s Taverners.

I close this month’s message with very important tributes to three long-term Taverners members and supporters who are sadly no longer with us.

Co-founder, and former Chair, of the Norfolk region, Gordon Smart, long standing West Kent committee member, Freddie Cook and Annabel Stilgoe (wife of Sir Richard) have all passed away since my last message in November.

All three made huge contributions to the charity, and helped it become what it is now on both a local and national level in their own unique way. We will always be thankful for their support of the cause and being fondly remembered friends of the charity.

On behalf of everyone at Lord’s Taverners, I send our deepest condolences to all of their family and friends at this sad time.

Best wishes,
Mark