Brit Insurance, the international general insurance and reinsurance group, today announces it has signed a four year partnership with Chance to Shine, one of the biggest grass-roots sports development programmes ever undertaken in Britain, which is run by The Cricket Foundation. Brit Insurance will support the charity's ten year campaign to educate two million children through cricket. Last week, marked the fifth anniversary of Chance to Shine and the one millionth child to benefit from its £50million programme.
The campaign will reach one third of Britain's state schools by 2015. From today, the core campaign will be referred to as "Chance to Shine supported by Brit Insurance".
The programme works in tandem with the national curriculum, drawing together people from all cultures and backgrounds, particularly inner cities.
The Cricket Foundation's National Cricket Day - a day of cricket-themed activity in hundreds of schools across the country on 23 June - will become "Brit Insurance National Cricket Day". Over 1,000 schools were involved last year and pupils from Newcastle to Newquay will enjoy a wide range of cross-curricular lessons, from crafting cricket poems in English and working out the co-ordinates of a cricket field in maths, to cricket competitions between classes and other local schools. Brit Insurance will donate the England Team mascots for all home international matches. Boys and girls from local state schools across the country will enjoy the unique experience of joining the captains on the field for the coin toss.
The impact of Chance to Shine in communities nationwide will be recognised annually at The Brit Insurance Achievement Awards which this year takes place on the 12 October at Lord's.
Wasim Khan, Chief Executive of The Cricket Foundation said: "Now is an ideal time, halfway through the Chance to Shine campaign, to partner with Brit Insurance as it continues to build its involvement within the world of cricket.
"Chance to Shine is starting to make a real impact, creating sustainable cultures and reviving cricket in thousands of state schools nationwide and the support of Brit Insurance will help us achieve our aims to help educate through cricket two million children in state schools 2015 ."
Dane Douetil CBE, Group CEO at Brit Insurance, said: "As a major supporter of cricket in the UK we are committed to the game at all levels to allow people from diverse cultures and backgrounds to get involved. Our existing profile and involvement in the game supported our decision to create a partnership that uses cricket as the catalyst to make a positive difference in our local communities."
In 2010, Chance to Shine will operate in around 4,000 state primary and secondary schools, through 422 clubs across the country, and will reach over 400,000 girls and boys. Further details on the campaign can be found at www.chancetoshine.org
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Enquiries
Mark Jones
Brit Insurance
+44 (0)20 7984 8500
Juliet Tilley
Haggie Financial
+44 (0)20 7417 8989
Notes to Editors
About Brit Insurance
Brit Insurance is an international general insurance and reinsurance group specialising in commercial insurance. The Group writes a diverse portfolio of over 70 classes of insurance and reinsurance offering worldwide protection. The scope is wide-ranging: from sole traders to the largest multinational corporations; from manufacturers to professional services; from shops to satellites. Our distribution model is centred on brokers and intermediaries. Reflecting where our customers trade, we are organized into three strategic business units – Global Markets, UK and Reinsurance – which have access to our underwriting platforms including Brit Insurance Limited and our Lloyd’s syndicate, Brit Syndicate 2987.
About Chance to Shine supported by Brit Insurance
Chance to Shine supported by Brit Insurance is one of the single biggest grass-roots sports development programme ever undertaken in Britain. The campaign, run by independent registered charity The Cricket Foundation, aims to establish regular coaching and competitive cricket opportunities in a third of state schools - 5,200 primary and 1,500 secondary schools - by 2015. To achieve this, £25million needs to be raised through private donors, which the Government has pledged to match-fund. The England and Wales Cricket Board and all the main cricketing bodies support Chance to Shine, both financially and logistically. Further details including ways to donate, can be found at www.chancetoshine.org