CASE STUDY 1: LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM

Reigniting an interest in cricket amongst a new generation of London’s Caribbean Communities

JACKSON

Reigniting an interest in cricket amongst a new generation of London’s Caribbean Communities

Cricket has witnessed a 75% decline in participation amongst the British Afro-Caribbean Community over the last 25 years. A once thriving Caribbean cricket scene in London, fueled by pride in the great West Indies teams of the 70s and 80s, produced a generation of high quality players and supported identity and integration for the early waves of the Windrush generation in London.

For Jackson, a Lewisham resident of Jamaican heritage, cricket had little relevance and football was all his friends and classmates knew - until earlier this year when Platform Cricket Coaches delivered a 5 week unit of sessions at his Primary School.

Jackson won a Player of the Week Award for excelling in these sessions and suddenly, this strange activity that had seen Dad Kevin standing around in a field in white clothing for hours (playing for Norwood Exiles CC) began to make sense! Jackson’s enthusiasm for cricket has strengthened his bond with his Dad and they now attend matches at The Oval. He has learned more about his heritage and after consolidating his enthusiasm at our holiday schemes, has spent the summer honing his skills further at the Hither Green Hawks pop-up club.

CAST STUDY 2: LONDON BOROUGH OF TOWER HAMLETS

Female sports participation in a Muslim Community

ILWAD

Female sports participation in a Muslim Community

Ilwad is from East London. She is of Somali heritage and lives with her Mom and sister. She is very active and sporty at school, and was encouraged to sign-up for Platform Cricket’s Holiday Activity & Food (HAF) Programme in Tower Hamlets by her PE Teacher Jakir.

Although Ilwad enjoys playing other sports at school and sometimes plays basketball alone in her Dad’s garden, this is the first opportunity she has had to play with other children in a structured environment. Ilwad has particularly enjoyed meeting and mixing with children from other areas and schools, and her confidence about participating in sport has grown - so much so that she joined the Whitechapel Wolves Hub this summer. Her extra energy and focus in games and competitive situations has been noticed by coaches.

Although her Mother enjoyed sport when she was younger, Ilwad has noticed that not many women in her community remain active. She is determined to be an inspiration for her younger sister however, and explains “why do boys always get to play sport and girls don’t? I want to show that girls can play as well, and that they can win too!”.

CASE STUDY 3: London Borough of Camden

Supporting children of asylum seekers & refugees to adapt to life in the UK

BURHAN

Supporting children of asylum seekers & refugees to adapt to life in the UK

When Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, Burhan and his family fled Afghanistan. They arrived in the UK and until recently Burhan, in his formative years, had only really known the central London hotel in which his family have been living since. This has presented severe challenges and restrictions on his family’s ability to provide the healthy, happy childhood they aspire for him to have.

Fortunately Burhan enrolled at an excellent local Primary School who, having partnered with Platform Cricket for the past 3 years, recognised the potential cricket could play in supporting the sudden surge in Afghan students and parents they were seeing. The school arranged for Platform Cricket to deliver year-round provision for all year groups.

8 year old Burhan benefited from additional cricket-based (but cross-curricular) interventions during school

time, which has given him the confidence to join in with community cricket activities through the Camden HAF programme in Somers Town, and the Somers Town

Steamers Platform Cricket Hub during the summer.

Burhan’s Dad observes: “Having Pashto-speaking coaches really adds another dimension to the project.

It helps Burhan engage and develop his English speaking, and enables him to socialise with children from different backgrounds and cultures too.”

CASE STUDY 4: CITY OF WESTMINSTER

Keeping healthy and active through cricket in an inner-city setting

NATHAN

Keeping healthy and active through cricket in an inner-city setting

Nathan lives in central London in a neighbourhood with very little green space and very few sports clubs. He is of South Indian heritage, and some of his relatives in India enjoy cricket, but Nathan had not played before having Platform Cricket coaches visit his Primary School to deliver some introductory sessions last year.

Nathan’s Mother and Grandma were very pleased when he bought a letter home, inviting him to join the Pimlico Plunderers pop-up cricket club that summer. They live in a high-rise apartment and Nathan, being too young to go outside to play on the busy and occasionally dangerous streets (Westminster has by far the highest crime rates in the UK), was beginning to put on weight and find exercise difficult.

His Grandma explains: “Nathan was beginning to play video games a lot and was spending more and more time in his room. I was worried that I couldn’t provide

the sort of active childhood I had enjoyed in India but the regular cricket activities, including during holiday times, have helped enormously. Unlike other things

we’ve tried, he is really engaged in the cricket and even gets himself ready early each day!”