Warwickshire Cricket Club and its work in the community

Mar 19 2009 Agenda, Birmingham Post

Warwickshire County Cricket Club chief executive Colin Povey explains how the club is making a difference in the community.

Corporate social responsibility often begins and ends with philanthropy. There is nothing wrong with simply giving money to charities, but for everyone at Edgbaston our roots in the community run deeper.

The club is a hub for community activity and we do all we can to support the many organisations that use the facilities at Edgbaston.

A cricket club is greater than the sum of its parts and the ties it enjoys with its local community are an important part of this equation. The impacts of this activity can be seen in many areas of Birmingham and beyond.

The cricket centre was opened in 2000 by HRH Prince Philip and forms the focal part of much of the community activity at Edgbaston. The cricket centre is one of the top three such facilities in the UK and the only one in the West Midlands. It is used for much more than simply coaching local teams.

The Streets2Arena initiative offers coaching to children from inner city areas of Birmingham. The young people who come along to the coaching learn discipline, improve fitness and gain the rewards from team work. Let’s not forget they also learn cricketing skills that could help bring through the next Flintoff or Panesar.

Playing cricket can do far more than improve fitness levels and our work with Pertemps People Development Group is testament to the positive influence that sport can have.

The group runs a 20-week project every year for unemployed people. The course takes place from Monday to Friday and offers training in the morning that equips people with the skills they need to return to work. The afternoon session takes place in the nets with experienced coaches and helps to build confidence and team work. The transformation over the course is remarkable and the impacts of this activity are clear.

The power of cricket is to provide a common ground on which people can come together to work on any number of areas but with the enthusiasm of a sports fan.

When you add this to the excellent facilities provided at Edgbaston, it becomes clear why the club is so well used across the city. The cricket centre is used seven days a week between 8am and 10pm.

The cross-cultural appeal of cricket is evident in the usual excellent turnout Edgbaston enjoys for international matches against such sides as India, Pakistan and the West Indies – who are due to visit this summer ahead of the Ashes Series.

The team here at Edgbaston also engages with local charities such as Cure Leukaemia, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and cricket’s leading charity, The Lord Taverners.

Education centres from across the city make use of the facilities, South Birmingham College being just one such example. Young adults from 16 to 18 years old attend three sessions as part of the sports course that provides invaluable insight into cricket techniques and professional sport.

Schools from across the city make use of the cricket centre throughout the year for a range of purposes. With thousands of young people passing through the famous Edgbaston gates, it is immensely important that the facilities at the ground are of a standard the city, as a whole, can be proud of.

The players, as well as the coaches, value the impact they can have on the local community and get involved with local schools and charities. Last year they visited over 100 schools.

The growth of community activity by sports clubs in recent years is to be applauded. Cricket has a special role to play in this due to its ability to reach into diverse communities and engage people in a sport that teaches them discipline, fitness and patience.

The team at Edgbaston tries to help as many people and groups as possible. While it is impossible to support every request the club receives, each one is judged on the impact it can have on the wider community. By inspiring and engaging with the right causes it is our belief that we can benefit many parts of the community.

We do not have the resources of a large corporate organisation to track all the benefits of Edgbaston’s involvement over time, but the organisations the club works with know the irreplaceable benefits we provide.

The role cricket has to play in the community is growing as issues such as childhood obesity and social inclusion come to the fore. The club’s work with schools is activity based to ensure the children can enjoy physical activity in a safe environment.

Cricket, uniquely I believe, reaches across social and ethnic divides to bring people together in the love of a sport. It provides a common language where fans can come together and share their experiences. This will remain an important focus for the club over the coming years.

The redevelopment plans we have for the ground will enhance our cricket centre and secure the future of the club for decades to come.

It will enable further investment to be made in community activity that will allow us to expand the volume and scope of our work.

The multiplier effect of the investment in the club is exponential when applied to the impact on community and educational organisations across the city.

Sporting clubs are ideally placed to be catalysts for social change and promote real benefits within their communities.

By bringing together sports fans of all ages, local and national businesses, community organisations and the education sector, few organisations can deliver community activity so effectively.

At the heart of a cohesive community strategy sits an understanding of the social drivers of the area you operate in.

When you do this, activities have real resonance and deliver long-term benefits.