Photo Credit: Cricket Ireland
DUBLIN – Cricket Ireland has been successful at acquiring €106K in grant funding from the Sport Ireland Dormant Accounts Funding Programme that will be invested in key areas of grassroots cricket that will improve the sustainability and support services for clubs and development activities.
The purpose of the Dormant Account Funding programme aims to engage communities across Ireland, focusing on people living with disability, people who are educationally disadvantaged or from disadvantaged communities.
The grant funding received will be directed towards three main programmes:
Innovation fund for Sports Inclusion (€85K): this funding will support a project which recognises the complex challenge of increasing social cohesion and physical activity in some communities, understanding that new approaches need to be considered. This project will innovate cricket delivery and adopt a values-based and locally-led approach in order to create a ‘Cricket for Good’ model for participation.
Volunteer Training & Support Programme (€15K): this funding will help expand our Club Connects Programme. This programme aims to build the capability and capacity of volunteers in cricket clubs so that they can provide the kind of positive experiences that will aid growth in ways that matter to club cricket in Ireland and wider communities.
Youth Leadership (€6K): this funding will support work with Local Sports Partnerships to promote the Sports Leader Programme within the network of schools in the region of the LSP and local cricketing opportunities – designing and facilitating additional training modules to add to the existing leadership programmes, providing a local and national perspective on the need to consider the diverse range of communities are understood and met.
Elaine Nolan, Participation Director at Cricket Ireland, said:
“WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK SPORT IRELAND FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE AND DELIVER CRICKET PROGRAMMES TO WIDER COMMUNITIES. SECURING THIS FUNDING WILL ALLOW US TO DEVELOP NEW PROGRAMMES IN AREAS OF INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY, AND YOUTH LEADERSHIP WHICH WILL HAVE DIRECT IMPACT AT GRASSROOTS LEVEL THROUGH PROVINCIAL UNIONS AND CLUBS BY PROVIDING TOOLS AND TRAINING ACROSS IRELAND.”
Photo Credit: Cricket Ireland
“This funding will also allow us to expand on the Club Connects Programme which was launched in 2019. We see the Club Connects programme as a huge opportunity to invest in both Unions/Clubs to address an important area and try to support collaboration between all stakeholders.”
“Cricket Ireland recognises that challenges facing clubs are significant and believe that by understanding these challenges and working collectively across Cricket Ireland, Provincial Unions and clubs we can encourage a sense of collective, and shared learnings as we all try to strengthen the backbone of our sport – which are the clubs.”
Name of Author: Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland, officially known as The Irish Cricket Union Company Limited by Guarantee, is the governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland. It oversees the national men’s and women’s teams and organizes the Inter-Provincial Series, Super 3s, and All-Ireland club competitions. Ireland achieved Test status for women in 2000 and for men in 2017 when it became a Full Member of the ICC.
