Lancashire Cricket launches Equality, Diversity and Inclusion framework
Lancashire Cricket has today launched its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) framework to assist the Club on its journey to ensure that everybody feels welcome as part of the Red Rose family and at Emirates Old Trafford.
Following on from the ECB’s action plan, which was set out last year, Lancashire Cricket has developed its own 10-point plan, which can be revealed below:
Lancashire Cricket – 10-point action plan
- Sport England Gold standard on Board governance by April 23
- Ongoing EDI training to be rolled out Club wide, including anti-discrimination, unconscious bias, and inclusive leadership.
- A three-year cricket recruitment strategy to achieve 22% representation from diverse backgrounds across all coaching roles and 50% gender balance across women’s pathway coaching roles.
- Establish community focus groups across recreational cricket.
- Develop an ‘inclusive facilities and welcoming guest experience’ strategy.
- Establish Lancashire Cricket’s own whistleblowing process.
- On-going review of current dressing room culture at Emirates Old Trafford and ensure the Club’s core values are integrated across the recreational game.
- Develop a Club-wide diverse hiring strategy with a priority focus on increasing diversity in the leadership team.
- Appointment of a Head of Inclusion and Engagement.
- Appointment of an external third-party organisation with depth of diversity to review our plan and monitor progress against it.
Daniel Gidney, Lancashire Cricket’s Chief Executive said: “We are all responsible to ensure the game of cricket takes every step possible to eradicate discrimination and we need to take actions which demonstrate that we are on the road to creating a better environment, for everyone involved in cricket.
“At Lancashire Cricket, we have worked hard on our EDI framework to ensure that it is genuinely going to make a difference to the community we serve. This recognises the work that has progressed on gender diversity in recent years, but with a clear focus on increasing wider and more diverse representation throughout the whole organisation.
“There is already some fantastic work that is being carried out across the county and the wider North West Region and there are many people committed to making things better, every day. However, we know that we need to do more.
“Without a doubt, cricket has an incredible power to bring people together, eradicate social barriers and be a force for good across communities. We are clear that this must start with us. This means creating a more diverse workforce from top to bottom. For that diverse workforce to thrive, it means working hard to nurture a culture where everyone feels safe, where everyone belongs and where everyone can be themselves.
“For us though, this is not, and never will be, a standalone strategy or action plan. It’s something that is part of us, embedded within the core values and DNA of the Lancashire Cricket family. We have made progress in this area, but we need – and want – to do better.”
Lancashire Cricket has been working with all its stakeholders for the past two years to produce a coherent, joint plan to clearly articulate the commitment and intention to embed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion within the Club.
The EDI framework document is built within the fabric of Lancashire Cricket including four vital components:
Welcome – To ensure we create a welcoming environment for all.
Communication – To reach out into communities and ensure an open, two-way communication, where we listen, learn and act.
People – To educate our team to hold the strategy together.
Support –To create a strong foundation for delivering success
We want Lancashire Cricket to be an organisation that welcomes all manner of lifestyles and perspectives, that embraces diversity and fosters inclusion.
The Club will continue to listen and learn from anyone who has experienced or witnessed discrimination in the sport, whether that be at Emirates Old Trafford, or further afield from across the county. The dedicated email address [email protected] has been established as part of an ongoing approach to improving EDI. We will, of course, address any past or current issues of this nature.