CEO update – November 2025

Hi everyone,

For the England Cricket supporters, what a remarkable start to the men’s Ashes series, which is clearly going to keep many of us entertained between now and early January… here’s to the late nights and early morning wake ups becoming much more worthwhile over the next six weeks as the team look to make history down under, and inspire so many at home to play the game and enjoy all its benefits.

In what is our final newsletter of 2025, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on what an incredible 75th anniversary year we’ve enjoyed. There’s been some fantastic fundraising events across the UK, which so many of our brilliant volunteers have organised and delivered over the course of the year. I’d like to say the biggest thank you to everyone, especially our anniversary year committee, brilliantly led by our good friend and long-term member David Robinson. The committee have dedicated so much time to producing these memorable events in recognition of a special milestone, which have raised a huge amount of money for our highly impactful cricket programmes.

But we’re not done yet… our upcoming Christmas events have been as popular as ever this year, and there are still a limited number of tickets available for you to attend a fundraiser nearby and finish the year with a bang. Find out more about events near you here. 

Something you will hear about throughout our festive communications, whether it be engaging with us from home or at our events, is our Christmas Appeal. Thanks to everyone who has already donated an additional £75 to the charity in our anniversary year, but for those who haven’t, you can still join our appeal and ensure we’re able to continue impacting the lives of thousands of young people living with a disability and from disadvantaged communities for the next 75 years. Click here to find out more.

While we have celebrated 75 years of the Taverners in 2025, a big focus for our central staff team has been building on our recently completed three-year strategy. In conjunction with our Trustee board, we’re now putting the finishing touches on our new five-year strategy which takes us up to 2030, as we look to play our part in making cricket the UK’s most inclusive team sport. More will be revealed in the New Year, so look out for communications in January on how we’ll be evolving as a charity to have even more of an impact on the young people participating in our programmes going forward.

As I sign off for 2025, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to our staff team, Development Officers, Trustee board, committee members, partners, funders, our supporters and our members, for everything you’ve collectively done to support the

charity in 2025. We couldn’t have had the impact we do through our cricket programmes without you, and what we’ve collectively achieved as a Taverners community is something to be very proud of as we continue working towards a very exciting future ahead.

For those celebrating, I hope you all enjoy a wonderful festive season, where I hope to see many of you at our Christmas events. I wish you, your friends and family the very best wishes over the holiday season as well as a very Happy New Year.

Best wishes, Mark