Cricket club launches multi-faith charter
Warwickshire County Cricket Club has become one of the first sporting organisations in the country to launch a Multifaith Charter, created in conjunction with representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jain, Judaism and Sikhism in the West Midlands.
Unveiled as part of Warwickshire 's Edgbaston for Everyone initiative, the Multifaith Charter is a tangible commitment to making sure that the club understands the needs of different faiths and creates a safe, welcoming environment for players, staff and visitors, ensuring Edgbaston can be supportive in helping people practice their faith.
In addition to the formation of its own Multifaith Charter, Warwickshire will commit to Nujum Sport 's Muslim Athlete Charter.
As part of this, the club met with representatives of its local Muslim community and, following feedback, chose to formulate a Multifaith Charter that is inclusive to all, but still commit to everything recognised within the programme designed by Nujum Sport.
Ebadur Rahman, founder and CEO of Nujum Sports, said: “Having signed the pledge to the Muslim Athlete Charter alongside its Multifaith Charter, Warwickshire CCC is joining a positive movement of solidarity, equality, and recognition of the contribution Muslims make in their respective clubs and teams.
"Nujum is here to support professional clubs and their players and to contribute positively to their equality and diversity agenda. We are delighted to work with the staff and team at Warwickshire CCC. ”
To underpin the principles within the Charter, the leadership team at Warwickshire CCC has begun a series of faith visits to key religious centres within the West Midlands to understand more about each religion and the day-to-day implications of people wanting to practice their faith at Edgbaston.
Alongside the Multifaith charter, the club has committed to a number of tangible initiatives to drive inclusivity within cricket, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality, class, social mobility, neural or physical ability.
Chief executive Stuart Cain said: “Making sure that Edgbaston is a safe, welcoming environment for all and that players from all walks of life have the same chances to thrive and succeed has been our goal for several years, but recent events show that we haven 't gone far enough, fast enough.
“This must change and the initiatives launched today are the first small, granular steps in a journey that will probably never end. We will always need to keep learning, adapting and changing.
“We 've tried to encapsulate this in our Edgbaston for Everyone framework, but it 's not about glossy brochures and lofty promises. It 's the small, weekly changes that we 're making that are important, and then ensuring that they 're sustained.
“Ultimately, we want people to look back over six months, a year, two years and see that real progress has been made. Whether that be in the development of local talent, opportunities for local people in the offices or the experience of those watching games.
“Regardless of gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, social background, education or neural or physical ability, we must do more to make cricket the most inclusive sport of all. ”
For further details of the Multifaith Charter and Edgbaston for Everyone, please click here.