New Year sparks change at Chance to Shine
 Cricket charity appoints new chief executive

New mission and brand unveiled
Chance to Shine has started 2015 with a bang, making three announcements
today (Tuesday 13 January). The leading youth cricket charity named its new
chief executive, outlined its new mission for 2020 and unveiled a new brand.
Chance to Shine has appointed Luke Swanson as chief executive, replacing
Wasim Khan who joined Leicestershire County Cricket Club at the start of the
year.
Luke joins Chance to Shine from Pearson, the world’s leading education
company, where he held a range of senior roles including corporate affairs
director, chief transformation officer and chief product officer. He is a nonexecutive director of The Economist Group and previously worked in
communications and campaigning at Diageo, Business in the Community and
The Prince’s Trust. He has been involved in cricket for many years as a player,
coach and Chance to Shine supporter.
In a second announcement today, Chance to Shine outlined its new mission to
supporters: to spread the power of cricket in schools and communities, inspiring
one million more young people by 2020.
The grassroots cricket charity's ambitious target is part of a five-year strategy,
starting in October, which includes a new £25million fundraising appeal.
Chance to Shine was launched in 2005 as an initiative aimed at reversing the
decline of cricket in state schools. Less than 10 per cent of them were playing
any form of meaningful, competitive cricket and the country's traditional
summer sport was at risk of dying out.
Now in its tenth year, Chance to Shine has successfully brought cricket to
2.5million children in 11,000 state schools across England and Wales. However,
millions of young people in the state sector and particularly in inner-city areas
still do not have the same opportunity to play cricket as their peers in private
schools.
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As part of the new strategy, Chance to Shine is refreshing its brand. It has
replaced the Cricket Foundation as the charity name and, from today, its two
core programmes, will be called 'Chance to Shine Schools' and 'Chance to Shine
Street' (previously StreetChance). The activities will remain the same but the
restructure allows the charity to lead with its most recognised and popular
brand, while providing a more united voice.
To reflect these changes, the charity also unveiled a new logo (see above). It is
based on the combination of a batsman's wagon wheel graphic and a spark. The
spark comes from the 'shine' part of the charity's name and represents the
positive benefits it ignites in young people like teamwork, passion, discipline and
respect. The reach and impact of the charity is encapsulated in a new strapline:
'spreading the power of cricket'.
Chairman of Chance to Shine, Donald Brydon, said, "I am delighted that Luke is
joining Chance to Shine as chief executive. He is a high-calibre leader and
communicator with a wealth of experience in the business and education sector.
He is passionate about our cause and will continue to drive the charity in the
right direction.
“Chance to Shine has been one of the sporting success stories from the past
decade. But we must now look forward, not back. We have a new, ambitious
mission: to spread the power of cricket in schools and communities, inspiring
one million more young people by 2020.”
Incoming Chance to Shine chief executive, Luke Swanson, added, “I am
honoured to be appointed the next chief executive of Chance to Shine at such an
exciting moment for the charity. It’s a fantastic campaign dedicated to inspiring
young people, and helping them to learn, through cricket. I’m a huge admirer of
all that Wasim Khan and the team there has achieved, and greatly looking
forward to working with and learning from Chance to Shine's many committed
players, teachers, coaches, ambassadors, funders, partners and advocates.”
Chance to Shine also announced new commercial deals with Yorkshire Tea and
Waitrose, for 2015, as well as confirming its continued partnership with
Marylebone Cricket Club. Yorkshire Tea will once again be the event partner for
Chance to Shine's National Cricket Week, taking place between 22-26 June.
Waitrose will provide mascot opportunities at England internationals this summer
for young people involved in the Chance to Shine Schools programme. They will
also be the event partner for both a 2005 Ashes Team Reunion event for Chance
to Shine on 14 July and the charity's flagship fundraising dinner, 'Chance to
Dine', on 16 September.
The partnership with Marylebone Cricket Club will continue into its sixth year and
focuses again on promoting the Spirit of Cricket in Chance to Shine schools. It
will include a new schools' assembly resource, reward stickers for pupils showing
good sportsmanship in PE and a return of the popular replica silver Ashes urns
for school competitions to coincide with the Investec Ashes this summer.
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The charity is now seeking headline sponsors for both its Chance to Shine
Schools and Street programmes, following the end of its contracts with Brit and
Barclays respectively.
Sport England continues its funding of the charity's work in secondary schools;
while England & Wales Cricket Board has committed an annual £1.25m
investment for Chance to Shine until 2017.
The two Chance to Shine programmes cost around £5million to run each year.
Former Bank of England Governor, The Lord King of Lothbury, co-founded
Chance to Shine with broadcaster Mark Nicholas and bat manufacturer Duncan
Fearnley.
For more information, please contact:
Fabian Devlin, Head of communications, Chance to Shine
T. 020 7820 9379 M. 07920 502 152 E. [email protected]
Ben Walker, Senior communications officer, Chance to Shine
T. 020 7820 9379 M. 07901 102 533 E. [email protected]
Note to editors
Luke Swanson’s biography
From 2000 until 2014 Luke was a senior executive at Pearson plc, the
international media and education company. He was a member of the Pearson
executive committee and his roles included corporate affairs director (including
investor relations, corporate communication, branding and corporate social
responsibility), chief transformation officer and chief product officer. He spent his
early career in communications and campaigning in a range of organisations
including Diageo, Business in the Community and The Prince's Trust.
Since 2011 Luke has served as a non-executive director on the board of The
Economist Group. He has previous board experience as a director of Interactive
Data Corporation in the US and Business Day & Financial Mail in South Africa. He
holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Worcester College,
Oxford.
He caught the cricket bug at his local state school and club in Welwyn Garden
City and was captain of cricket at Worcester College. A qualified cricket coach,
he currently coaches a Surrey CCC Inner London district age group squad and
plays for several wandering teams. As a student he won an Oxford Blue in
basketball and went on to play for several seasons in the English National
League.
He lives in South London with his wife, Lucy, and their three children.
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