Case Study - Cricket Roots

Programme: Young Roots
Applicant: Music for Change
Grant awarded: £21,800
Project length: 9 months

Cricket Roots - printable (MS Word, 321KB)

Summary

Music for Change is a well-respected community arts charity. This project involved teenagers living in East Kent from different circumstances, including refugees, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with additional support needs.

The young people researched the lives and achievements of overseas cricketers who had played for Kent County Cricket Club (KCCC) throughout its history. They chose to focus on four key players, Asif Iqbal, John Shepherd, Carl Hooper, and Bernard Julien, and were helped by Canterbury Cathedral Archives to trace their lives.

The young people were introduced to the cultures of countries of origin of the players through the music and performance of Calypso and Bhangra and composed a new song based on their findings, ‘There's A Lime Tree Inside the Boundary’. A film of the project, together with research findings and artefacts loaned by KCCC, formed an exhibition at Canterbury Museum.

The aims of the project

To combine sport, music and heritage to break down barriers between young people from very different backgrounds.
To encourage the young people to think about their shared local heritage and different cultures.

Benefits for heritage

There was increased respect, awareness and understanding amongst the young people of their different cultural histories and of the heritage of cricket and music in the UK.
The young people were introduced to the process of historical research, documentation and genealogy for the first time.
Canterbury Museum and the cathedral archives gained an opportunity to work with young people though the partnership with Music for Change; the museum hosted the exhibition based on the young people’s research which was seen by 5000 people.

Benefits for people

The project has given the participants the chance to have first-hand experience of cultures they may not otherwise encounter. They have discovered that there are many similarities that can be recognised, as well as differences to be celebrated.’ Douglas Noble, Music for Change.
The young people’s self esteem and pride was boosted by the courage they showed in performing their song in front of a crowd of 2500 at a cricket match between Kent and Sri Lanka ‘A’.
The composing and recording of the song was a major achievement for the young people, as many have English as a second or third language.

Lessons learnt

Maintaining the interest and involvement of the young people proved challenging; the creative activities and the opportunities to celebrate the achievements of the young people helped.

Long term benefits

Local schools said that the project had demonstrated the value of using sport as a means of teaching a variety of subjects.
The song ‘There’s a Lime Tree Inside the Boundary’ and the young peoples research findings are available on the Music for Change website.

The budget

Main Project Costs	£	Funding	£
Equipments / materials	7,000	Canterbury Council	3,200
Staff / recruitment	10,000	HLF grant (87%)	21,800
Training and travel	1,000
Design/writing/printing education material	6,000
		Total costs	25,000

Singing ‘here’s a lime tree inside the boundary’

Sector

Cultures and Memories

Activity

Participation; Learning