Developing skills through sport
Aldridge Cricket Academy programmes
We support a junior and sixth form cricket programme at the Sir Rod Aldridge Cricket Centre (SRACC) based at Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA), which enables young people to combine academic studies with an intensive cricket development programme, and community programmes to encourage more equal access to the sport. Our programmes are delivered in a unique partnership with Sussex Cricket who see BACA as their state school of choice for aspiring cricketers to develop their skills.
These programmes not only develop an interest in cricket but also skills such as teamwork, determination and communication which can be transferred to all areas of life. The programmes also show young people the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of participating in regular exercise.
BACA has been recognised year on year by “The Cricketer” magazine as being in the Top100 Cricket schools in the country with 94 being from the independent school sector.
Dormer Melluish Aldridge Cricket Scholarship
In partnership with the Dormer and Melluish families, The Willows Cricket Club and Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation we’re providing an annual life-changing student exchange opportunity which sees an aspiring cricketer from BACA spend six months in Christchurch, New Zealand, playing and coaching cricket and volunteering with local charities.
Kenyan Cricket and Character Development Programme
We have collaborated with the East Africa Character Development Trust (EACDT) to provide funding and share learning to enable their Cricket and Character Development Programmes to reach hundreds of disadvantaged young Kenyans in Nairobi, helping them to transform their lives through sport, skills development and education. Our funding has enabled two main and two satellite cricket hubs to be established.
I was quite a cheeky kid. I wouldn’t always listen to instructions or show respect to people. The cricket academy programme has definitely changed me as a person – to be more respectful, more professional, to have better time management and to become the role model I wanted to be on the field and off the field.
Seaver, Aldridge Cricket Academy graduate