COVERED WINTER 2019

35 @TRENTBRIDGE TRENT BRIDGE COMMUNITY TRUST “So we just started with basic things, saying ‘if you go to school for the whole of this week, on Friday night we’ll get a pizza in.’ “And from things like that, we had the hook.We could encourage them to start achieving in their lessons, or improve how they were behaving at home. “Yes, it means you’re rewarding people for things they should have been doing anyway, but we had to find a way to get their trust.Then, over a period of months, you can really start to work with them.” That simple ethos – of establishing bonds with young people, and showing faith in them – is something which has served theTrust well over the last decade. And it is something that they have carried into one of their newest projects. Forget Me Notts launched two years ago and provides invaluable opportunities for people who are living with dementia to remain mentally and physically active. It also provides carers with downtime and a vital support network of peers facing the same day-to-day pressures. And when a cause chimes with an individual, it can drive them to do incredible things. Two of Sheldon and Lucas Miller’s grandparents had dementia in their later years. The duo, who work for Nottinghamshire sponsor John Pye Auctions, were keen to do whatever they could to help others in a similar situation. For them, the hackneyed charity challenge of sitting in a bath of beans simply wouldn’t cut it. Instead, together with their father, they were to take on one of the world’s most daunting peaks – Kilimanjaro. It was a mission which would take them almost 6,000m above sea level – but it was the final 500 which would prove the most arduous. “That last push – the summit – was a massive struggle,” Sheldon says, back in the sanctuary of John Pye’s Basford headquarters. “You certainly have to dig deep, and in doing so you think a lot of your family and friends, you think of other struggles that people you know have been through and of the donations made to date. “Our 70-year-old father dug deepest – an amazing feat for someone of such an age. “The work Forget Me Notts are doing is fantastic, so we hope we can help to benefit local people who are living with the condition.” Lucas agreed that the challenge was one which pushed the team to their limits. “Taking on Mount Kilimanjaro has been one of the most mentally testing and rewarding experiences I have ever undergone,” he said. “I will never forget the immeasurable sense of both fatigue and pride I felt when reaching the park gate at the end of the Lemosho Route.” For Mark Clifford, knowing that individuals are prepared to go to such lengths in the name of theTrent Bridge CommunityTrust is humbling. “Ten years ago theTrust just consisted of me, and now we’ve got people who are willing to go to the other side of the world, climb one of the world’s tallest mountains, and raise money for us to continue our work – it’s unbelievable,” he says. “I’m sure the experience will be life-changing for Sheldon and Lucas, but some of the stuff we’ll be able to do with the money will be life-changing for other people as well.” Ask Clifford to share the most rewarding part of his job, and the answer doesn’t come quickly. But having taken a moment to recline and sip on his black coffee, he becomes certain that there is no single standout aspect of working at theTrust. “Whether it’s a young kid coming to Trent Bridge for the first time and having that ‘wow’ moment, or it’s some- one coming to Forget Me Notts saying ‘it’s the first time my husband’s smiled in a week’, so many parts of what we do are rewarding,” he says. “The fact that we can see how we’re directly impacting people’s lives is what keeps us kicking on.” To find out more about the Trust’s work, visit trentbridge.co.uk/trust