COVERED WINTER 2019

COVERED 34 TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK From humble beginnings to leaving an indelible mark across Nottinghamshire and beyond, the Trent Bridge Community Trust celebrates ten years of making a difference. STORY BY Matthew Freeman A SPORTING CHANCE When Mark Clifford helped to establish theTrent Bridge CommunityTrust, he could never have envisaged the way the charity would develop over its first decade. Indeed, it would have been difficult for him to have planned for the next ten days, let alone ten years. But having invested £1.5million into community projects over the past decade, and saved around £3million for local services, there is plenty to look back on as the organisation celebrates its tenth anniversary. “I’ll always remember the first day,” he recounts from his office atop theWilliam Clarke Stand, in a moment of brief respite between fielding phone calls and leading a dedicated team of CommunityTrust staff. “I was bundled into Cotgrave – just me, my computer and a list of contacts – and was told to ‘crack on’ and stop the behavioural issues which were happening.” Clifford would have been forgiven for being daunted by the challenge in front of him. Longstanding issues with young people in the area had left residents concerned, community groups at their wits’ end, and teens cynical about broken promises. But step-by-step, bonds were formed, trust was established, and progress was made. “Sometimes with young people if you don’t deliver what you say you will, you’re just someone else who’s let them down, and they’ll have had that countless times,” he says.