Wicketz in the Park

Last week Lancashire Cricket Foundation (LCF) were out in the community delivering FREE cricket sessions to engage young people during the May Half term break as part of our Wicketz programme. 

Wicketz in the Park was set up as a door step cricket session and delivered in 3 Trafford Parks (Longford, Seymour and Lostock) throughout the week to engage young people.  The sessions aimed to provide affordable and accessible cricket for local residents and encourage them to try the sport. 

The two hour sessions were delivered by LCF coaches and were designed to be fun and engaging with the aim of inspiring young people to be more physically active and develop a love of the game.  As well as providing the free sessions we were using the sessions as an opportunity to sign post people to our Wicketz programme which is delivered on a Saturday morning at the Trafford Sports Barn.  

We set up a base in each park and played some music to announce our presence and thankfully the sun shone which enabled us to deliver a total of 7 free cricket sessions and 14 hours of coaching in 3 parks across Trafford.   Over 90 young people aged 7-11 years old engaged in the cricket sessions and accessed the free holiday provision.

 

Community Programme Manager, Daniel Landstrom said ‘The Wicketz in the Park programme exceeding our expectations and is something we would like to explore and develop in the future.  All the feedback from everyone that participated has been positive and we have been approached by other parks who’d like to be involved in the future. Providing affordable and accessible sessions to ensure young people remain physically active given the current financial climate is something LCF are committed to delivering and hopefully, we will see some of the participants transition from the park to our Wicketz Hub in Trafford.’    

Wicketz is a community cricket programme funded by Lords Taverners aimed at young people aged 8-19, living in areas with high levels of poverty. It provides year-round weekly cricket sessions as well as workshops that teach vital life skills. It breaks down barriers and tackles some of the most challenging social issues faced by young people in the Manchester.

For more information about Wicketz or any of our other community programmes please contact dlandstrom@lancashirecricket.co.uk.