Last year, Middlesex Cricket successfully launched its Connecting Communities campaign, with the inaugural event held at the Hounslow Jamia Masjid, when members of the Middlesex and Sunrisers playing squads joined many members of the local Hounslow community for an engaging morning of car park cricket.
Following the success of that launch event, Middlesex Cricket has been working closely with the Hounslow Mosque, discussing plans for a closer partnership, and today, we are delighted to announce that the venue and its facilities will be utilised by Middlesex moving forwards as one of the Club’s Core City Hubs.
The mosque will be one of Middlesex Cricket’s 15 Core City Urban Hub sites in the county. The Core Cities programme was set up on the back of ECB partnership with Sport England in 2018.
Every Core City Hub aims to provide safe spaces that connect communities and bring together cricket and other local offers, benefitting members of the local area through community engagement, social cohesion, and health and wellbeing initiatives.
Middlesex Cricket will begin using the mosque’s facilities as a delivery centre for a wide-ranging collection of cricket-based community programmes, ranging from All Stars and Dynamos national cricket programmes for youngsters aged between 5 and 11, to walking cricket sessions for the community’s more elderly members.
The Club will also be delivering female only cricket sessions, coach education courses for both males and females, disability cricket sessions, tape-ball and soft-ball tournaments, and dedicated cricket tournaments around important religious festivals, with the launch of initiatives like the Eid Cup.
Commenting on the unveiling of the new Core City Hub, Middlesex Cricket’s Participation Director, Kari Carswell, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to have named the Hounslow Jamia Masjid as our latest Core City Hub venue, and I would like to thank the General Secretary Shafiq Rehman and all at the mosque for their support in sharing our vision and commitment to growing cricket in the area and to engage with members of their local community.
“Our Participation Manager, Mash Mehter, has been integral in making this happen, and he will play a lead role in us maximising the potential from this exciting new partner venue.
“Hounslow is a key area for us in terms of developing engagement in the game and in growing participation, so to have secured such an impressive venue as a Core City Hub, which will play an important role in helping us to achieve our aims in the area, is a massive positive.
“We look forward to working with members of the mosque and the local community moving forwards.”
Hounslow Jamia Masjid’s General Secretary, Shafiq Rehman, said:
“We were extremely proud to host Middlesex Cricket last year for the launch of their Connecting Communities campaign. The event was a huge success, and it was great to see so many young members from our mosque enjoying playing the game they love with members of the Middlesex professional playing group.
“Since that launch event, we have been working closely with Middlesex to determine how we can utilise the mosque’s facilities with Middlesex moving forwards, and we are proud to announce that we have been named as one of Middlesex Cricket’s Core Cities Hubs.
“This will mean that we will become an important venue for the Club to deliver community-based programmes to members of our local community, with Middlesex Cricket’s Participation Team delivering the cricket programmes, for a range of cricket sessions planned for cricket lovers of all ages, from the very youngest with All-Stars Cricket, to walking cricket for the more elderly members of our community.
“Our thanks go to Mash Mehter of Middlesex Cricket for helping to facilitate this agreement and we really look forward to working closely with them moving forward as a Core City Hub.”
