Inclusion at heart of Lord's Taverners Arundel residential

Arundel Castle was the stunning setting for participants from the Lord's Taverners Super 1s and Wicketz programmes to unite for a three-day residential last month

The Cricketer | 26/09/2024 at 12:01

Young people with a disability and from disadvantaged communities benefited from this unique occasion to connect and learn more about the challenges they each face, all through their shared love of cricket.

Delivered in conjunction with the Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation, the residential gave participants from Luton Wicketz and Sussex Super 1s the opportunity to spend time away from home in a different environment, engage in physical activities and take on challenges that they never have before. The three days provided a platform for Wicketz participants who aspire to become coaches, to lead adapted sessions for young people with a disability for the first time, and Super 1s participants to take on leadership roles in a number of activities as well. Taking on new experiences like these ensures participants and their families leave the three days away from home, with increased levels of belief and confidence in what they can achieve following the vital life skills learnt and friendships made.

Wicketz Programme Manager, Dan Wilson, said: “Our Wicketz participants haven’t had much experience of being around people with a disability. We interviewed two Wicketz participants ahead of this residential which resulted in them being invited to attend and be young leaders for a few days, build their skill set by learning how to coach in a disability setting and adapt sessions to ensure they’re as inclusive as possible.”

“It’s really important that we bring Wicketz and Super 1s together in this way. A lot of young people on both programmes face disadvantage when trying to take part in sport, but every young person here in Arundel loves playing cricket, and with that in common they end up having conversations on other things that make them who they are such as their culture, challenges and this is such a huge thing for them moving forward for the rest of their lives.”

One Sussex Super 1s participant added: “It shows that we are capable of doing things that people think we aren’t able to. Being here definitely empowers all the people here to be more confident and do new things that we thought we couldn’t.”

Breaking down these barriers between young people and communities that might not normally interact with each other is fundamental to what the Lord’s Taverners cricket programmes are about, tackling inequality and providing vital personal development opportunities through cricket that help every young person who engages with one of the charity’s programmes to reach their potential.

Prior to the start of Australia’s T20I series against Scotland, Wicketz participants from Edinburgh enjoyed the rare opportunity to play cricket with Captain Mitchell Marsh (above), Adam Zampa, Cameron Green, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Riley Meredith and Tim David as part of a special Wicketz session at The Grange. In addition to playing cricket with the white-ball stars they also enjoyed a Q&A with the players after watching them train ahead of their first match.

Wicketz in Scotland continues to go from strength to strength, as the programme looks to make the game available to more young people than ever before in disadvantaged communities across Edinburgh and Glasgow, so participants can not only get involved in the game but benefit from all the personal development opportunities that cricket and experiences like this bring.

To find out more about Wicketz, click here.