Breaking Boundaries is a three-year programme (2018 –2021) funded by Spirit of 2012, supported by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and The Institute of Community Cohesion (Icoco).

We sit down with Barking and Dagenham Community Coordinator Sam Bickmore and reflect on delivering the programme in 2020.

1. How did your journey with Breaking Boundaries begin and what attracted you to get involved with this role?

I always wanted to be involved with sports and in the sports industry and this project really stood out to me as it was something I could work on and develop a lot of my personal skills as well as running a sports related project.

2. What have been your highlights for this year on the Breaking Boundaries programme?

I think one of my personal highlights is seeing Aiden getting his YST award and seeing where he came from at the start of the project to this point and how much he has developed.

3. What new innovative ways did you adopt to ensure social connectedness during the pandemic? 

We have run gathering and online events during this pandemic – small catch ups where people can come online and speak about their experiences with the pandemic and some of the ideas, they have to connect people and also listen to other people's stories of the pandemic.
 

4. Which social media or digital campaign did you feel was the most impactful and successful during the Covid-19 pandemic?

We had our community Mentor Aiden Elmore do weekly cricket videos for us to post on social media which people could do easily at home and gives them something to do – it was really well received, and people would always comment and enjoy them.

 

5. What were the biggest challenges for you this year as a city coordinator for Breaking Boundaries?

My biggest challenge this year was not being able to go out and run events as I liked putting things on for people that would benefit them and also bring them closer together as it has more of an impact meeting people face to face.

6. How did you work to support your city in becoming more cohesive and socially connected this year?

We have recently engaged with the local cohesion team for the council and so being able to work with them and getting their ideas and thoughts throughout the project has really helped us be more cohesive and socially connected to our community and think of things in a different approach.

7. If you were to summarise your experience of Breaking Boundaries this year in three words what would they be? Challenging, Exciting, Different