Chance to Shine believes that every young person should have the opportunity to learn, play and develop through cricket.  However, the availability of cricket coaching varies enormously throughout the UK and, in areas of deprivation, there are often no opportunities for young people to play cricket at all.

Committed to addressing this inequality, Chance to Shine secures funding and works with 41 county cricket boards and other partners across England, Scotland and Wales to run fun and inclusive youth cricket programmes.  It therefore needs an effective way to identify the best locations for these activities, so that it can increase opportunities for young people from deprived communities, ethnic minorities and other under-represented groups.

Chance to Shine had no prior experience of using geographic information system (GIS) technology, but got up and running quickly with support and encouragement from Esri UK.  The charity used Esri’s ArcGIS Online solution to build an interactive web map, showing the locations where cricket facilities were already available, either at local cricket clubs or in schools and community groups.  This relatively simple first step with GIS delivered immediate value by visualising clearly where gaps in the provision of cricket coaching exist across the UK.

Next, Chance to Shine used standard functionality within ArcGIS Online to import accurate open source data on deprivation, eligibility for free school meals, ethnicity and childhood inactivity.  All this contextual information enriched the ArcGIS Online web app, enabling the charity to see clearly, for the first time, not only where gaps exist, but where there are communities that would particularly benefit from having better access to sports activities.

This ArcGIS Online web app has become absolutely pivotal to the charity’s work, supporting programmes for almost 600,000 children per year and informing its long-term strategic planning.  Data from ArcGIS Online is shared in presentations with key stakeholders, and all of the charity’s 41 partners can access and explore the ArcGIS Online web app themselves, to gain an insight into the challenges within their own local catchment areas.

Looking ahead, Chance to Shine plans to use ArcGIS Online to create a new public-facing web map for its website that will allow parents and teachers to use a ‘find my nearest’ feature and discover cricket programmes near where they live more easily.  “We are so excited by ArcGIS!” says Zoya Zia, Senior Impact and Evaluation Officer at Chance to Shine.  “We have, so far, only tapped the surface level of ArcGIS Online but we realise that there is so much more that we can do with it.”

Shared understanding of inequitable access to cricket
The ArcGIS Online web app enables Chance to Shine to share data more effectively with its 41 partners and improve their understanding of inequitable access to cricket coaching.  “It has been incredibly illuminating for our partners to be able to see what deprivation and a lack of access to cricket actually looks like in their regional contexts,” says Zia.  “The intelligence that we provide with ArcGIS Online inspires our partners and empowers them to make good decisions about where to run new programmes.  This can only be done through the power of a map.”

New initiatives focused in areas of greatest need
In the last twelve months, Chance to Shine has used ArcGIS Online to help it initiate over 100 new, free, weekly cricket programmes, called ‘street cricket’, in community groups and schools nationwide.  Two-thirds of these projects take part in the most deprived parts of the country and 80% of participants are from minority ethnic communities.  “ArcGIS enables us to ensure that our new street cricket projects are all in the right places, to reach young people in communities that don’t otherwise have access to cricket,” Zia says.  “It’s a space where they can grow and play and become a better version of themselves.”

Detailed, well-informed funding applications
Critically, the insight gained from ArcGIS Online is helping the charity to make detailed funding applications, have well-informed conversations with potential donors and work towards raising at least £375,000 per year to sustain existing street projects and grow the programme.  “ArcGIS helps us to gain the trust of our donors and show grant-providers where their money will be spent, why these communities in particular need more sports-based activities and exactly where the charity is making a difference,” Zia explains.  “Using ArcGIS will help us to continue our work and reach more young people in the future.”

Clear and impactful reporting of results
Chance to Shine uses its web app to demonstrate the impact of its activities and show how its programmes are helping to reverse the decline in childhood physical activity, particularly in deprived areas.  In the future, the charity plans to use ArcGIS StoryMaps to help it spread the word about its work even more widely and highlight key success metrics such as: 97% of teachers agree that Chance to Shine’s cricket programmes are inclusive.  As Zia says, “ArcGIS helps us provide feedback to partners, donors and corporate sponsors and tell them a much stronger story about the difference we are making to children’s lives.”