Cricketing Northumbria Uni graduate is going into bat to get older people moving for mental health

Cricketqube has been bowling people over across the North East with its accessible cricket sessions.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, Cricketqube CIC’s founder Alosh K Jose is on the front foot to support this year’s Mental Health Foundation campaign theme, ‘Movement: Moving more for our mental health’.

Alosh, a postgraduate in International Sports Management from Northumbria University and keen amateur cricketer, wanted to share his love of the game by developing sessions so anyone can play any time anywhere, whether they have had a good innings or are new to the crease.

Cricketqube has worked with more than a thousand people in the last two and a half years, fielding players from three-years-old right up to the grand age of 104.

Its ‘backyard cricket’ modified version of the game is knocking loneliness out of the park, especially for older people, those with Parkinson’s, and South Asian and Black families.

Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions: high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death.

Alosh said: “Engaging with other people is probably the most crucial part of well-being. It is important for older people’s mental health to still be active. Care staff say our cricket is the highlight of the week, participants tell us it helps connect with others. Although there may be 100 people living in a care home there are not always many opportunities to actually engage with each other.

“It is the same with older people who are still living independently. Many of them might have lost their partners, they might be living alone. So when they come to our sessions, it might be their one interaction of the week. But now they are playing as a team, talking to each other, supporting each other. We have had instances where people have met at our sessions and now go on holidays together.”

Inspired by growing up in India, Alosh wanted to bring the passion for playing cricket anywhere with anything that could pass for a bat back to the UK.

Alosh said: “I felt cricket wasn't as accessible here as it was in India. Because of the inequalities in our society, we decided to focus on older people and ethnic minority families. Cricket is expensive and a huge time commitment, I wanted to make it a more accessible game for the community.

“You don’t need a huge cricket pitch. We use softballs and plastic bats, most of our sessions are indoors. Really a hallway in your house is a perfect place to start playing cricket, you just need a bowler and batter to play every day!”

Cricketqube was able to hire an extra coach and impact analyst thanks to funding from UnLtd, a charity which funds and supports social entrepreneurs tackling the key issues facing society. The £10,600 funding Cricketqube received was part of their Movement for Change programme run in partnership with Sports England.

Alosh added: “We have been able to put a really strong impact analysis regime in place. We analyse people's mental, physical and social wellbeing to enable us to put on the right sessions and grow Cricketqube. It is already making a difference. UnLtd has been there from the start, it was one of our first funders. We could not have done it without the support and funding from UnLtd’s Movement for Change programme with Sport England - together we are ‘Moving for Change’.

Mark Norbury, chief executive of UnLtd, added: “Social entrepreneurs from our Movement for Change programme are tackling inequalities and mental health challenges with inspired wellbeing solutions and activities. They are making a powerful difference in communities – at a time when so many of us have been struggling. We’re excited to support many more social entrepreneurs with Sport England.”

For more information on Cricketqube visit: www.cricketqube.com

To find out how you can apply for the Movement For Change fund go here: www.unltd.org.uk/awards/movement-for-change