The Next Test: Volunteers Wanted!

CALL OUT for VOLUNTEERS 

The Next Test are working with Gloucestershire CCC on their Community Climate Action Plan. The Next Test is a growing hub for climate concerned cricket clubs, players and fans. We offer  resources, events and education on how our game is under threat from global heating, combined with a solutions based approach. Our team works closely with cricket clubs and affiliated groups  to build our resilience as a cricketing community through outreach programs. 

This season we are collaborating with the Gloucestershire CCC (GCCC) on the Community  Climate Action Plan. GCCC have been awarded a Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership bursary, funded by the National Lottery, so the club is planning events and outreach sessions throughout  the year. This will enable them to produce a plan by May 2025, as in the goals below, and we need input from volunteers. 

The aims of our collaboration in this project are to: 

∙ Gain a better insight to the challenges posed by the climate and biodiversity crisis affecting our cricket community 

∙ Educate the audience and administrators on what we can do about it  

∙ Celebrate the solutions that clubs already champion, share their positive stories ∙ Co-create a ‘community climate action plan’ to be launched in May 2025 

How we will achieve this: 

∙ Outreach to clubs, players and fans at matches or events 

∙ Gain data from surveys and participatory activities 

∙ Focussed round table sessions 

∙ Deliver our education programme and workshop 

∙ Collate the findings from the above working alongside GCCC  

∙ Plan and attend a Symposium Event at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol, October 2024 How you can get involved 

We are seeking passionate volunteers who love cricket, equality in our game and are concerned  about climate change threatening nature and biodiversity. As a volunteer you will gain skills in  community outreach; speaking with the public; delivering educational materials; contributing to  social media and communications; data analysis; events co-ordination; and collaboration with our  County Cricket Club. This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in our growing organisation,  shaping the future of our game, and building resilience amongst Bristol’s cricket community. 

The Roles 

Outreach 

We need volunteers who have good communication skills, are passionate about people and our  community, have a positive attitude to inspire people, and a competency in having challenging  conversations. You will lead activities and conduct surveys at matches or events through the  season. We need every engagement with the audience to be impactful, you will have a good  knowledge of climate science and a fair grasp of cricket. Basic training and content will be  provided.  

Outreach opportunities: Sunday 9th June and Wednesday 3rd July 2024.  

Other outreach sessions will be confirmed and publicised. 

Time: 6 hours shift with a break & snacks provided 

Place: The Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol; we are in an outdoor covered marquee using our  educational materials. 

Data Analysis 

A key role in this project, this is for someone who is trustworthy, dedicated, and able to attend  online feedback sessions after each event. You will have competency and experience in handling  data from surveys and extrapolating this to evaluate our findings. We need our surveys to gather  both qualitative and quantitative data, for sharing with key stakeholders or potential publication.  

Educators 

Our educators have a good knowledge of climate concerns, and keep up to date as to how  cricketing communities are being affected. We speak in front of small or large audiences with  passion and confidence to deliver a comprehensive 1 hour education programme including  interactive workshops. These can be online or in person if possible, with basic training and  guidance provided and we will have an online ‘training’ session within a week of each event. 

Communications & Social Media 

Understand our organisational aims, tone and brand. Support our communications team in  creating engaging and dynamic content to support the publicity of this project. Contribute to our blog, where photography skills are a bonus, celebrate the Climate Action Project, collaborate and work beside the communications team at Gloucestershire CCC. Attend some outreach sessions,  meetings in person and online. Managing your own workload and feeding back to The Next Test  throughout. 

Events Support Volunteers 

The October symposium will be held at The Seat Unique Stadium, and the date will be  announced by the club soon.  

We are a small organisation made up of dedicated and passionate volunteers. These are exciting times to get involved in our growing team.

Contact: Xeena Cooper 

thenexttestcricket@gmail.com  

www.thenexttest.org