County First as LCCC Appoints EDI Director

Leicestershire CCC has become the first club in county cricket to appoint a Community and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Director.

Namita Patel started in the role at the beginning of September, with the aim of continuing and elevating the club’s commitment to making cricket in the county both more inclusive and diverse.

Namita joins from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, where she held the position of Community Safety Manager, before assuming the role of EDI and Safeguarding Manager in July 2020.

She also holds a wealth of experience in the third sector, headlined by work for The Prince’s Trust across a 10-year stint in the industry.

Discussing her previous experience, Namita said: “My role was to bring diversity into the fire service and that’s exactly what I’m here to do. We want cricket to be representative of Leicestershire and my role is to build on the inroads made by the Club already.

“I’ve spent over a decade working with charities doing private sector fundraising, so I’d like to bring that knowledge to the surface and raise the profile of our foundation.”

Namita will be tasked with augmenting the work undertaken on the ‘Foxes Family’ Diversity and Inclusion Action plan, which targets both the internal values of the Club, as well as better engaging with the county’s diverse communities.

Those ambitions include increasing events such as September’s inaugural Connecting Communities Festival, which saw Uptonsteel County Ground open its doors for a day that both united and celebrated Leicestershire’s diversity through a community festival, charity cricket match and awards evening.

“Days like that are a great way of bringing cricket and Leicestershire to the forefront,” said Namita. “But it’s about building on it by strengthening those partnerships and that’s our aim moving forwards.”

One of the plan’s objectives is to grow the profile and participation numbers pertaining to the women’s and girls’ game, something Namita highlighted as a timely topic.

“What a great time to join (the Club). There was so much more focus on women’s sport, with England winning the European Championship, the Commonwealth Games and even our own Women making their first appearance at Grace Road. It was a really exciting summer.”

As Leicestershire strives to increase its diversity and inclusion over the coming months, from further bolstering links out in the community to adding sensory and multi-faith prayer facilities in-house, Namita sees her role as the glue that binds the Club’s efforts together.

“Everyone’s doing pockets of great work, but we have to bring those bridges together. We want to get more people interested in playing or watching cricket and inspire the next generations.

“We know how popular cricket is in the county, but how many people actually come to Grace Road? For us, it’s about visibility in the community and showing Leicester that there’s a place here at the cricket. It’s a place for everyone.”