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‘SUPER’ MATCH DAY VOLUNTEERS RETURN IN 2024
Somerset County Cricket Club and Somerset Cricket Foundation are pleased to be able to announce that our Somerset Matchday Experience Team will once again be attending our home Vitality Blast matches.
Launched in 2022, this very special volunteer team is made up entirely of Super 1s participants and players from the Somerset Disability team.
The Super 1s cricket programme is an initiative funded through the Lords Taverners that not only gets young people with a disability active by playing cricket, but also helps to develop and instil life skills.
The Somerset Matchday Experience Team is a bespoke volunteering programme which includes a series of work preparation workshops allowing the participants the opportunity to experience and develop skills associated with employment. We were able to create a safe environment that allowed players to present and interview without pressure, but still experience the process and the nerves!
On a matchday, each volunteer is involved in the meeting and greeting of Members and ticket holders, handing out 4 & 6 cards and merchandise at various points throughout the match and throwing the t-shirts to the crowd during the official scatter blast breaks.
Somerset Cricket Foundation’s Community Programmes Manager, Steve Gass believes that the initiative has been extremely beneficial for the participants. “It’s been really successful,” he said. “We’ve had lots of positive comments from the young people involved and also their parents.
“The scheme helps to develop important life skills like time management, confidence and a sense of independence. It also assists with communication skills and helps boost self-esteem.
“It’s been really exciting to see these young people grow in confidence and develop skills which we probably take for granted.”
Each week approximately 100 young people engage with the seven Super 1 hubs that run across Somerset enabling participants to develop personal and social skills that can be applied in everyday life.
