• Chance to Shine is encouraging schools to celebrate the contributions of Black players to England’s cricketing history.
• Chance to Shine has designed free resources for schools, to highlight Black cricketers who have represented England and to help children understand the value of diversity to the sport.
• The charity is also developing a new plan to create more opportunities for children from Black communities to play cricket.

As Black History Month continues across the world, national children’s charity Chance to Shine is providing schools with the tools they need to celebrate Black British cricketers. All schools around the country are able to access the free resources that celebrate heroes like Jofra Archer, Ebony Rainford-Brent and the first Black England cricketer, Roland Butcher.

The new resources for Primary and Secondary Schools focus on highlighting the importance and the success of the Black players who have represented England since Roland Butcher made his debut in 1980. As well as encouraging pupils to learn about some of the Black stars of the game, the charity has also prepared practical, physical education sessions that reinforce the learning through fun, cricket skills-based activities that discuss the importance of inclusion and diversity in sport.

The resources have been supported by Charity Partner NatWest, who have worked with Chance to Shine over several years to support bringing the game to a wider and more diverse audience. Sky Sports, long-term broadcast partner of the game, have also supported in the develop of the engaging resources for the classroom.

The charity is also committing to create more opportunities in communities where a high proportion of children are from Black backgrounds, in order to ensure that the sport is providing equal access to people from all ethnicities.

Chance to Shine will be consulting with partners and looking to source funding for a new approach that will focus on increasing the number of children from Black backgrounds who play cricket. The charity has always worked closely with its delivery partners to highlight the importance of ensuring that the charity’s work is benefitting children from all backgrounds equally and will continue to do so.

Chance to Shine Trustee and NatWest Cricket Ambassador, Ebony Rainford-Brent said “I think it’s vital to highlight the incredible contribution that Black cricketers have made to the English game. From players like Roland Butcher, Devon Malcolm and Gladstone Small to Sophia Dunkley and Jofra Archer today, all have made important contributions to the team and are role models for young Black people in this country.”

Chief Executive at Chance to Shine, Laura Cordingley, said “Like many others in organisations across the world, we have been assessing how our work creates equal access for people from all backgrounds and ethnicities. We are committed to giving every child the opportunity to play cricket and, from that, access all the incredible benefits the game can bring to their physical, mental and social wellbeing. As a charity we’re tremendously proud of the work we have done over the last 15 years, but we are always striving to do better. We will be working extremely hard to find funding and then to build a comprehensive plan that will help to bring the game to children who may not have had that opportunity in the past.”

The free resources can be downloaded from chancetoshine.org/BHM.