Durham County Cricket Club Foundation travelled to Kenya to help run a new gender equality programme that aims to use cricket to empower girls, provide support to discuss and address the challenges they face in their communities.
The programme, which was funded by fund management company Liontrust as part of their support of the DCCC Foundation, saw the Foundation partner with the Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) charity. CWB work in five sub-Saharan African countries to deliver cricket development initiatives and the Kenya Let’s Be Women Project, a project based on their pioneering work in the North East.
The Let’s Be Women Kenya Programme originated from the work delivered by the Foundation in the UK. The North East based programme is run in four locations across the region, working in partnership with the Girls Friendly Society (GFS) charity and CWB, utilising cricket as a tool to empower young women and girls to achieve their potential.
The Kenya strand of the programme in particular, focuses on gender equality issues, insufficient access to education and promotion of positive health and wellbeing. The programme uses cricket as the medium to engage, educate and empower.
DCCC Foundation Manager, Josie Pointon travelled to Kenya with a team of CWB volunteers to implement the programme – which aimed to establish high quality, progressive cricket leadership and will support Josie to develop her leadership and coaching skills – within the local Maasai community of Laikipia.
“We were delighted to partner up with both CWB and Girls Friendly Society to run the new gender equality programme in the North East and pleased that the programme provided a pathway to volunteer on the Kenyan programme,” Josie said.
“I hugely enjoyed my time in Laikipia and it was amazing to see the impact that cricket can have on their community.
“The programme aims to inspire the next generation of globally aware female leaders through cricket and it really gave me the chance to learn from other coaches and peers in a different context.
“The trip was a big success and we’re delighted to be given the opportunity to be part of it and will certainly be looking to return in the future.”
“The new partnership with Liontrust will help with the development of the women’s game and the Durham women’s Academy and will help to enhance the club’s community engagement over the next couple of years. “