The power of sporting history was celebrated at the inaugural Sporting Heritage Awards held at Leeds City Museum yesterday with nine individuals and organisations recognised for their work across education, sport, culture and heritage.
Winners including the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket (based at the headquarters of Glamorgan County Cricket Club), the Yorkshire-based Women in Rugby League project, The National Football Museum, The National Paralympic Heritage Trust and The Silverstone Interactive Museum were presented with their award by BBC Sports presenter and journalist, Tanya Arnold and Sporting Heritage Ambassador and seven-times Paralympian and twelve-times World Champion, Hannah Cockroft.
Founder and Director of Leeds-based Sporting Heritage CIC who created the awards, Dr Justine Reilly, said: “There is so much amazing work being done by people across the UK using the benefits and impact of sport and its history to help communities and individuals grow, learn, and develop, we knew we had to create a way of recognising those that are making a difference. The Sporting Heritage Awards are a brilliant celebration of just a snapshot of the work taking place and we are incredibly proud of all the winners.”
A judging panel with representatives from across the heritage, sport and cultural sectors had the difficult decision of selecting the nine winners from the hundreds of entries which included sports executive, Sir Rodney Walker who said: “I was delighted to be invited to be one of the judges of the inaugural Sporting Heritage Awards. The range of categories are an indication of the many ways in which individuals contribute to the benefits which sporting heritage brings to society. The task in selecting a winner in each group was made particularly difficult given the impressive entries received.”
Fellow judge, Eilish McGuinness, CEO of The National Heritage Fund added: “It has been a pleasure to judge the Sporting Heritage Awards and I’d like to say a huge congratulations to all the fantastic nominees and deserving winners of this inaugural ceremony. At The National Lottery Heritage Fund we’ve seen first-hand the real impact these projects have for our sporting heritage, from recording histories for the first time, sharing unheard voices and involving communities in this rich heritage. It is great to see all the projects and people receive well-deserved recognition.”
Dr. Andrew Hignell, the Heritage and Education Co-ordinator at Glamorgan who acts as the Museum’s Curator said:” We are very proud to have won the Recognising Sporting Heritage Volunteers Award. Over the past two years, our team of volunteers has completely transformed the online presence of the Museum from a listing of key dates and individuals, supported by a small number of images to a wider range of stimulating narrative with blogs, podcasts, tweets and social media postings. Overall, their actions mean that the heritage of cricket in Wales is now in a much improved and stronger position, with the sharing, preservation and protection of information about the first-ever team game in Wales so that current and future generations can enjoy and celebrate.”
The award was accepted at the ceremony on behalf of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket by Stephen Hedges, one of the team of volunteers, who has overseen the creation of podcasts in addition to other social media content. Stephen added “Before the Summer of 2020, the Museum had a limited online presence. We have now produced nearly 70 episodes of the podcast. We have interviewed the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford about his love of the game, as well as Lord Peter Hain of Neath about bringing the first-ever touring club side from the South African township of Soweto to Wales in 1995. We have chatted to the oldest-living Glamorgan cricketer Ken Lewis (now aged 93) plus countless club cricketers about the histories of their clubs. We have met Australian cricket addicts who spend their time searching for lost grounds, disabled cricketers who have represented Wales in disability cricket, women cricketers experiencing their first taste of the game of cricket as well as Black and Asian cricketers who have brought their passion and performance to the recreational game.”
“The podcast has received over 6,000 downloads and has reached an audience in England, Australia, South Africa and further afield. Our Twitter feed and Facebook pages have ensured that our work has been shared with the cricketing family of Wales and beyond. We are very proud of the work that we do and are very aware that heritage is much more than just preserving artefacts. Behind every item in our collection is a story and throughout our great country we know that there are so many more, as yet, undiscovered stories waiting to be told.”