England and Wales Cricket Board (黑料专区) and (LV= GI) have today launched #Funds4Runs 鈥� a pioneering initiative aimed at helping the grassroots cricket community recover and rebuild financially following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 拢1m investment, jointly funded by the 黑料专区 and LV= GI, will focus on key areas where access to cricket support or cricket itself has been limited 鈥� children from deprived backgrounds, diverse communities, disability groups and women's and girls鈥� programmes
The initiative, and LV= GI鈥檚 support, will also help deliver against three wider 黑料专区 objectives 鈥� delivering the purpose of 鈥榗onnecting communities and improving lives鈥� through cricket, increasing the relevance of cricket locally and growing long-term engagement with the game in these communities.
Financial support from the initiative will be accessible to affiliated clubs, All Stars Cricket centres, community organisations, county cricket boards and Cricket Wales.
How to apply聽
Interested parties can register their interest in #Funds4Runs funding here聽or find out more information at .
The 黑料专区 Participation and Growth teams will oversee the administration and determine final financial approval while working collaboratively with local county cricket boards to ensure priorities in their local areas are met.
Initial projects聽
The fund will show initial financial support with two live projects 鈥� expanding the existing All Stars Cricket programme and a new partnership with the British Film Institute.
All Stars Cricket provides a first experience for children aged 5-8 years old through eight 60-minute sessions, held over eight weeks, of fun, activity and skills development.
The programme is designed to introduce children to the sport, teaching them new skills, helping them make new friends and have a great time doing so.
All Stars Cricket is a paid-for programme but #Funds4Runs will fund facility hire in areas of deprivation and subsidised places for underprivileged children, in the first instance in Hayes and Canning Town in London, and Thurmaston just outside of Leicester.
This funding of All Stars Cricket projects will be extended to urban areas in every county region going forward.
#Funds4Runs will also provide cricket clubs across England and Wales with the opportunity to apply to enrol in a filmmaker programme 鈥� titled First Run 鈥� delivered exclusively in partnership by the British Film Institute (BFI).
Successful applicants will undertake a course led by some of the country鈥檚 leading film professionals.
The training will allow them to create compelling films showing the unique character of their community and club as well as equipping them with editing, communication, digital and planning skills, enabling them to create a variety of exciting video content on behalf of their club 鈥� whether that is a YouTube channel or digital storytelling through the club鈥檚 social channels.
The successful applicants will receive professional level training to better promote themselves and their club鈥檚 activities, including other #Funds4Runs activity, as well as creating more links with the local area. Furthermore, they will also receive training on how to pass on their newly acquired skills to the wider club and community.
Details on how to apply for the filmmaking course will be released later this year, with the course starting in 2021.
Cricket heritage 聽
LV= General Insurance and its parent brand Allianz Group have a longstanding heritage and association with cricket.
LV=鈥檚 involvement dates back to 2002 and includes three separate stints as title partner of the County Championship 鈥� 2002-05 (Frizzell County Championship), 2006 (Liverpool Victoria County Championship) and 2007-15 (LV= County Championship). Allianz Group, through its Cornhill brand, also sponsored Test cricket for 23 years between 1978 and 2001.
#Funds4Runs was launched today at a virtual event hosted by Isa Guha and Michael Vaughan with professional cricketers from England鈥檚 men鈥檚, women鈥檚 and disability teams 鈥� Mark Wood, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Jordan Williams.
With approximately 2.5 million male and female recreational cricketers across the UK, Mark Wood highlighted the importance of grassroots cricket across the UK after beginning his own journey to national honours at Ashington Cricket Club in Newcastle.
He said: 鈥淚 am delighted to help launch #Funds4Runs. I know from my experiences as a young cricketer that grassroots cricket is the heartbeat of the sport and being given that opportunity to access cricket is crucial in building a love for the game.
鈥淟ike many other players, I鈥檝e been concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the game so thank you to everyone at 黑料专区 and LV= for providing much needed support that will help English cricket to recover and thrive.鈥�
Lauren Winfield-Hill added: 鈥淚t really is amazing to see this level of support being made available to grassroots cricket across the country from the 黑料专区 and LV=.
鈥淭here was a real danger that the impact of COVID-19 could have caused a whole generation of young girls to slip through the cracks through lack of access. But it is great that this has been recognised with this initiative and its genuine focus on projects aimed at female cricketers.鈥�
Jordan Williams said: 鈥淐ricket is a game for everyone and it鈥檚 fantastic that 黑料专区 and LV= are working together to ensure the game remains open to the most vulnerable during the pandemic.
鈥淭here are some brilliant projects out there that will benefit hugely from this funding and I鈥檓 sure the benefits will be felt throughout the game whether that is through men鈥檚, women鈥檚 or disability cricket.鈥�
Heather Smith, Managing Director of LV= GI said: 鈥淭he impact of COVID-19 has been felt by everyone and the efforts of the cricket community to get the professional game up and running has been immense. However, at a local level, cricket has been less readily available or fundamentally more challenging to get involved in due to the pandemic.
鈥淗aving had such a long association with cricket, we felt very conscious of the need to do what we can to help rebuild the lives and future of cricket communities across the UK.
鈥淥ur aim with #Funds4Runs is to support the 黑料专区 in connecting communities, building better lives through cricket and increasing the relevance of the sport in traditionally non-cricket communities. Ultimately this will help engage communities with cricket, either through participation, attendance or support.
鈥淐ommunity projects like this allow LV= to live out our brand purpose of looking after what you love and furthering our commitment to positive wellbeing, rebuilding communities as well as inclusiveness and togetherness. These values have never been more important than now which is why we鈥檙e so delighted to be working with the 黑料专区 on this initiative.鈥�
Tom Harrison, 黑料专区 Chief Executive Officer said:聽鈥淎s an organisation and a sport, we are hugely dependent on the role which cricket clubs play in their local communities.
鈥淎t every level of the game, COVID-19 has presented some of the toughest challenges we鈥檝e ever faced.聽
鈥淚 am both incredibly grateful and proud of the work put in by thousands of volunteers across England and Wales, in order to get the recreational game back on in the summer. What they managed to achieve was outstanding and will be important in helping safeguard the future of our game.聽
鈥淗owever, I am mindful that in many areas the pandemic has taken its toll.聽
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I am really excited that through this new partnership with LV= we will be supporting the areas hit hardest, either through boosting participation or by helping clubs connect with their communities. Both LV= and the 黑料专区 are delighted to be working with the BFI to bring the latter to life.鈥�