The Duke of Edinburgh named patron of Lord’s Taverners

The Duke’s patronage will continue a long line of Royal support for the charity, following on from his father Prince Philip, The late Duke of Edinburgh, who became founding patron and 12th man in 1950 – a role he held for 71 years.

The news comes as the charity is set to stage a series of events across the country over the rest of the year to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The Duke, who along with his brother King Charles III has also been a President of the Taverners, is passionate about the positive impact and opportunity offered by sport, and supporting the charity that uses cricket to empower and positively impact the lives of disadvantaged and disabled young people facing the challenges of inequality.

“As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, this is fantastic news for our members, supporters and everyone connected with the Taverners and we are hugely grateful to The Duke of Edinburgh for his support and appreciation of our work across the country,” explained Lord’s Taverners President David Gower.

“We are really looking forward to working with The Duke to help showcase the life-changing impact our work has on thousands of young people across the country. Our vision is that every young person can overcome the challenges of inequality and achieve their potential and The Duke’s support will be invaluable in helping us make this a reality.”

With youth voice being put at the heart of the decision making at the charity, our Youth Ambassadors also welcomed the news of the new Royal Patron to help highlight the Taverners inclusive cricket programmes which last year impacted the lives of nearly 30,000 young people.

Youth Ambassador Jessica Williams, who has been attending our Super 1s disability cricket programme for over five years and now also plays in the Super 9s (cricket's disability development pathway), said: "Attending Lord's Taverners programmes had a life-changing impact on me, not only have I been able to play cricket and make new friends, I have also been able to help with umpiring and scoring helping with my confidence and communication. The support of The Duke of Edinburgh as our new patron will allow us to tell even more people about what we do and our work as Youth Ambassadors to ensure even more young people can benefit from the work of the charity".

Last year we worked with a record 28,669 young people across our inclusive cricket programmes.

To learn more about the impact of our work, click here.