It’s been a busy and rewarding start to the year for our Wicketz Yorkshire team, in partnership with Lord Taverners.
We caught up with Matthew Crookes, our Wicketz officer across Bradford and Leeds and Rick Robinson, our Wicketz officer in Hull, to find out what they’ve been up to in January.
A young Wicketz group getting coached indoors.
There has been plenty of cricket skills on show as well as an increased awareness of several life skills such as communication and listening. – Rick Robinson, our Wicketz Hull officer.
Wicketz – Leeds/ Bradford
We have seen many new faces across this period, with 20 newly registered participants, with many new female participants, so it’s been a great couple of months in terms of our project growth – with the programme numbers increasing consecutively over the last three months.
Young people take part in a Wicketz session in Bradford
I’m delighted to announce that we have partnered with Northern! This partnership will give our young participants the chance to use the railway to and from many of our Wicketz and participation events across 2023.
Northern have very kindly agreed to offer our young participants supported travel, alongside other educational opportunities, and interaction with their own community champions. Many of our participants have never used train travel before, so this will offer them amazing experience, and hopefully give them the confidence to use the service in the future!
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Pictured, from left Darren Allsopp, a regional stakeholder manager for Northern, alongside Matthew Crookes, the YCF Wicketz development officer for Leeds and Bradford and Richard Isaac, a regional community and sustainability manager for Northern in Leeds, at Headingley Cricket Ground.
We have more of the same in February, with weekly sessions continuing.
Our weekly session schedule:
Monday’s | 5pm-7pm | Trinity Academy, Leeds (LS9 7QL)
Tuesday’s | 5pm-7pm | Grange Interlink, Bradford (BD7 1PX)
Friday’s | 6pm-8pm | Karmand Community Centre, Bradford (BD3 9EP)
Additionally, we have two exciting events taking place in February half-term! A Wicketz X Enjoy Cricket Camp, and a Wicketz Hub Competition, both of which will be hosted at Trinity Academy Leeds.
Look out for the February addition of Wicketz Wednesday, as we’ll show you how these went!
Hull
The start of 2023 has been a good one for Wicketz Hull with sessions beginning as soon as January 3rd. We saw 2022 off with a festive theme at each of the hubs, with Christmas songs and hot chocolate as a treat.
All three hubs have had bumper attendances since the New Year with new participants joining. There has been plenty of cricket skills on show as well as an increased awareness of several life skills such as communication and listening.
Highlight of the month
On Wednesday, 5 January, we welcomed the National charity GamCare to deliver a fun interactive workshop around the dangers of gambling and the effects it can have on young people. The session incorporated plenty of cricket and the participants left understanding that gambling can come in many shapes and forms as well as who to contact should they need help and guidance.
Young people in Hull enjoy a Wicketz coaching session.
Young people take part in a Wicketz session in Hull. All three hubs have had bumper attendances since the New Year with new participants joining.
Coming up in February
February is an exciting month, with a Wicketz school festival in the East of the city and a new 11-14 year old hub starting after school at Archbishop. So, look out for how this went in the next Wicketz Wednesday.
The Wicketz Hull program will continue at the below hubs:
Monday’s | 3:15pm – 4:15pm | St Richards VC Academy, Hull (HU9 5TE) – for children aged 8 – 11 years old.
Tuesday’s | 3:15pm – 4:15pm | Sirius Academy West, Hull (HU4 7JB) – for young people from 8 – 14 years old.
Wednesday’s | 5:30pm – 7pm | Kelvin Hall School, Hull (HU5 4QH) for children aged 8 – 14 years old.
Keep an eye out for our monthly Wicketz catch-ups and if you’re interested in getting involved in our Wicketz programme, please contact:
Leeds & Bradford – Matthew Crookes
Email: [email protected]
Hull – Rick Robinson
Email: [email protected]
To learn more about Wicketz, click here
