COVERED 2025 Spring

COVERED 44 TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK How long have you been with the cricket club? I’ve been at the club since 2013 – I started out in a clubs and leagues role, engaging with young people in the Newark area who were on the verge of permanent exclusion from school; in essence the beginnings of Positive Futures, now one of the Trust’s flagship programmes. I’d never done anything like it before, but I relished the challenge of using sport to help detract kids from getting involved in anti-social behaviour and becoming better connected with their communities. So I actually wasn’t based at Trent Bridge at all, at first, but at the end of my contract I picked up more work around the recreational game and even- tually became the recreational team manager. For the past 12 months, I’ve been overseeing both the recreational side and the Community Trust. How many people do you engage with every year? Our schools outreach programmes see us engage with over 25,000 kids every year, and we support 102 recreational clubs across the county, all of varying kinds, locations and sizes.We have clubs big and small based in urban areas, out in the sticks, and some which are nomadic, meaning they don’t have a permanent home ground. On top of all that, we run projects alongside charities like Chance to Shine and Lord’s Taverners to make cricket a game which benefits everyone regard- less of their circumstances. By comparison, we have 25 permanent staff – and around another 20 casual staff – across the recreational and Community Trust teams, some part- time and some full-time, and they are all incredibly passionate people who care about making a difference for our communities and for the local game. It’s our job to support that network to enable the sport to develop and thrive in our county. What do you tend to do on match days at Trent Bridge? A big part of our role is to make match days accessible for all.We’re responsible for ensuring that people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs and circumstances can have a comfort- able and enjoyable experience – this means it is our job to ensure that we have the facilities to allow as many people as possible to attend a cricket match, whether that be with wheelchair STORY BY Oliver Mooney BEHIND THE SIGHT SCREEN Name: Mandy Wright Job: Head of Community and Development Tenure: 12 years Spreading the word of cricket to all corners of the county requires a dedicated workforce to travel far beyond the walls of Trent Bridge – and that workforce is headed by Mandy Wright. While a career in sport wasn’t always the ambition, those community connections have helped Mandy’s 12–year tenure to date feel suitably rewarding.