Coutts hosts networking lunch for cricketers and business associates in aid of ‘Chance to Shine’

Yesterday, England cricketers Mike Atherton and Alastair Cook joined Lord Eddie George, former Governor of the Bank of England, and 13 wealthy business associates for lunch, hosted at Coutts head office at 440 Strand, London.  The lunch was arranged by Coutts to raise awareness of the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to shine campaign among potential sponsors and donors.

Chance to shine, whose President is Mervyn King, current Governor of the Bank of England, is a ten-year campaign to regenerate competitive cricket in a third of all state schools in England and Wales by 2015.  This summer it gave 100,000 children from 1,300 state schools the chance to play cricket competitively. Forty-five per cent of the children were girls and ten per cent came from ethnic minorities.

Now in its second full year, Chance to shine is seeking £25 million of private funding, which the Government is committed to match pound for pound. The Cricket Foundation has already raised £12m from major companies such as Allianz, Slazenger and Booz Allen Hamilton and many private individuals.

Simon Dyson, Executive Chairman of Chance to shine said: “Over ten years our campaign will have given more than two million children the opportunity to enjoy the unique benefits of playing competitive cricket. This is not a search for the next Andrew Flintoff but a campaign to provide vital educational opportunities, to develop essential team-working skills, leadership and strategic awareness and to bring together boys and girls from our diverse communities.”

Julian Lamden, Principal Client Partner at Coutts commented: "We’re delighted to be able to lend our support to such a worthy cause. The earliest recorded chronicle of cricket, which was invented by the English, dates back to the 16th Century and was both originated by children, before increasingly being taken up by adults in the 17th century. Coutts was started in London in 1692 and remains a truly British brand steeped in history. It is therefore only fitting that we would lend support to protecting the heritage of this sport while also ensuring that children from across the UK get the opportunity to play this truly British game.

Chance to shine is recognised as the largest sports development project ever undertaken in the UK and has the full backing across the political divide. NatWest, sister company to Coutts, has proudly supported English cricket both domestically and internationally, as well as at grassroots level since 1981. The NatWest Series Trophy was passed around guests of the lunch for photo opportunities.

For further information on Coutts please contact:

Jo Thorne, PR Manager, Coutts & Co.

Tel: 020 7957 2650, mob: 07766070859, or email: joanna.thorne@coutts.com

or

For further information on Chance to shine please contact:

Dominic O’Reilly, Head of Communications, Chance to shine.

Tel: 07920 502152, or email dominic.oreilly.cricketfoundation@ecb.co.uk

Notes to Editors

·Coutts is the international private banking arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is one of the world's largest banking groups.

·Coutts manages the wealth of 100,000 high net worth clients worldwide through a network of over 40 offices globally.

·The first Coutts regional office to be opened was Eton in 1961. Today, Coutts has regional offices in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Eton, Guildford, Hampshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford and Tunbridge Wells.

·Coutts offers clients a range of products and services covering sophisticated investment products together with expertise in trust and fiduciary services and UK tax and banking services.

·Coutts & Co is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Coutts & Co Registered in England No 36695Registered Office 440 Strand London WC2R 0QS.

·Calls may be recorded.

www.coutts.com

Chance to shine (www.chancetoshine.org)

·The Cricket Foundation, an independent registered charity, launched Chance to shine in May 2005 when fewer than ten per cent of state schools in England and Wales had competitive cricket programmes.

·Chance to shine is a ten-year campaign to regenerate competitive cricket in the state sector. By 2015 it will have set up sustainable cricket programmes in a third of state schools in England and Wales and introduced more than two million children to the sport.

·The Cricket Foundation is raising £25m from the private sector with the Government pledged to match fund every pound. Financial supporters include Allianz, Slazenger, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Lord’s Taverners and numerous companies and private individuals.

·Chance to shine programmes are delivered through a network of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Focus clubs. Each club coaches four primary and two secondary schools and oversees competitive matches. Each school receives 50 hours of coaching in the summer term and is required to provide a minimum of five competitive matches for its pupils.