Lord's Taverners Wicketz programme is breaking down barriers

Established specifically to break down the barriers faced by 8 to 19-year-olds living in areas with high levels of deprivation, children like Scarlett are really benefitting from the Lord's Taverners Wicketz programme

The Cricketer | 02/05/2023 at 12:15

This article features in our May 2023 magazine. To read the full version, get a copy of the magazine by clicking here.

It's unsurprising that most cricket discourse centres around high-profile agenda items like High Performance Reviews and the eyewatering sums of money paid for franchise TV rights. But that runs the risk of neglecting to acknowledge the good that our game does for more marginalised members of society.

The Lord's Taverners Wicketz programme was established specifically to break down the barriers faced by 8 to 19-year-olds living in areas with high levels of deprivation, and to develop vital life skills for its participants.

"I was worried about people not accepting me," says Scarlett, aged 10, who has been attending the Kidderminster hub of the West Midlands Wicketz project since August 2020. She's a shining example of how the programme gives young people a sense of inclusion and community that has otherwise been absent from their childhood.

"In some of the other clubs I've been to... it hasn't felt like they're my family. I would get really sad every week almost, and be scared that the thing that I did was bad.

"And then here, it's just a big loving family. They always support my ideas and I always support theirs and it's really good how we get along like that. When you're slogging the ball or getting a wicket, it's like a stress reliever."

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^{Scarlett taking part in activities run by the Lord's Taverners Wicketz programme [Credit: Lord's Taverners]}

Dan Wilson, Wicketz’ Programme Manager, notes that girls from all over the UK are coming together through cricket: "It's really nice to know that the environment we're creating is enabling those girls to be able to speak openly and honestly about what they're concerned about, what issues they face in their community, what anxieties they have.

"And once we know that information, we can put an action plan in place to help these girls and provide those tools that they need to thrive in everyday life."

The Wicketz programme does this by running multiple local hubs across 17 locations around the UK – from Edinburgh to Plymouth – targeting traditionally difficult-to-reach communities, and groups such as refugees and young offenders. The sessions combine cricket coaching and competition with workshops that are specially designed to improve the participants' wellbeing, life skills and social integration.

Sara, another Wicketz' participant, particularly appreciates that sense of inclusion combined with ongoing education: "I think that's one of the beautiful things about coming here, you get everyone together. We can learn from each other. Even the adults have been learning new things from the children."

Scarlett is one of more than 280 young people from disadvantaged communities attending weekly cricket sessions across seven Wicketz hubs in Worcestershire and Warwickshire – an area where one in three youngsters are living below the poverty line.

But participants like Scarlett are testament to the way these programmes can reinforce a more positive vision of the future. "I want to get a good career in cricket – or even a just good career – and it feels like I’m not alone and by myself," she says, "It made me look out to the world."

To find out more about the Wicketz programme, head to the Lord's Taverners website.