Breaking Boundaries

Breaking Boundaries’ primary aim was to bring young people, their families, and communities together through regular engagement in activities and one-off events focused on socialisation, play and coaching, participation, spectating, and volunteering based around a ‘cricket-themed’ approach. This sought to encourage participants to engage in physical activity and sport to improve community cohesion in its five targeted locations: Barking and Dagenham (in London), Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, and Slough.

Using the spark of the respective successes of the women’s and the men’s teams in the 2017 and 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments, Breaking Boundaries originally aimed to use cricket to bring different ethnic and faith communities closer together into one cricket community, and foster mutual respect and friendships. In 2022 the project shifted to other sports as a result of the pandemic.

Breaking Boundaries engaged 379 Champions who contributed over 3,500 volunteer hours in support of delivery of the programme.  It engaged 884 regular participants and worked with over 200 partner across the five cities.

The project was delivered by the Youth Sport Trust and Sporting Equals in specific wards in Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, Slough and London (Barking and Dagenham).