Over the recent half-term, Berkshire Cricket have had the pleasure of running a three-day holiday camp. We made the best of our partnership with the fantastic Reading School and used their facilities to put on a cricket and multi-sport programme, running Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with over 30 different children attending across the holiday.
The whole event could not have happened without Reading School’s enthusiastic Tom Evans, who allowed us to use the Grammar School’s facilities and each day provided a new morning full of games and multi-sport skill sessions that dovetailed perfectly with the cricket activities delivered by BCF.
Throughout the programme, School’s Manager Ally Darlow and Community Coach Connor Wardlaw were ever-present, helping to run things on all three days. They were also helped by Marketing and Communications Officer Jaiden Hall on day 1, Performance Coach Hammad Ali on day 2 and Disability Officer Chris Baker on day 3.
Each day brought with it new laughs, new games and new challenges for the children involved as they developed their batting, bowling and fielding skills throughout the cricket sessions. It wasn’t all about cricket, though, as many also got to try their hand at dodgeball, handball, football and basketball, some for the first time!
A particular highlight came about on day three, when the BCF coaches found themselves taking part in an impromptu basketball match against over 15 children and Tom Evans, if only someone was keeping score, we’d be able to let you know who won!
All in all it was a wonderful three days to be involved in and we very much look forward to utilising the relationship we’ve developed with Reading School to put on more events like this in the future, as everyone involved, from the children to the coaches, had an enjoyable half-term.