The npower Urban Cricket facility in Brixton was visited by England
batsman Ravi Bopara and Charlotte Edwards, Captain of the England
Women’s Cricket Team, where they were joined by forty youngsters for a
game of Urban Cricket in Brixton, London.

Ravi and Charlotte were
visiting the npower Urban Cricket facility in Wyck Gardens, which was
officially opened in August 2007 as part of the grassroots Urban
Cricket initiative, to pass on tips and advice to a group of local
primary school children who use the facility to practice playing.

The
facility, which transformed a disused area of the park, was the first
of five purpose-built facilities to be opened across the country as
part of the Urban Cricket initiative. Since its opening, the London
Borough of Lambeth, working in partnership with Surrey County Cricket
Club, regularly use the facility to run coaching programmes for local
primary schools to encourage children to lead more active lifestyles.
The facility is also open to the local community to use at any time.
Over 1,000 children, young people and adults have benefited from the
facility and the associated coaching that goes with the programme.

Ravi
Bopara said: \"It’s great to be in Wyck Gardens to see how npower Urban
Cricket is working. Judging by some of the children I’ve seen here
today the scheme is really making a difference. There was lots of
energy, not to mention some decent little cricketers who weren’t afraid
to bang it in to me. It’s great to see kids getting stuck in and
enjoying themselves\"

Charlotte Edwards commented: \"It’s
fantastic to see initiatives such as npower Urban Cricket giving
youngsters the chance to learn the game\"

George Foster, CSR and Fundraising Manager at Surrey County Cricket Club, commented:

\"The
npower Urban Cricket facility has really benefited the area since it
was opened two years ago. We use the facility on a weekly basis to try
and introduce local children to cricket and encourage them to get out
there and play. Facilities like these are a great way of developing a
legacy for the game and allowing children in the area to practice their
skills in a safe environment\"

npower Urban Cricket, a grassroots
project run in conjunction with the England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB), was launched in 2006 with one clear goal - to get more children
playing. Since its launch, npower and the ECB have distributed over
60,000 Urban Cricket kits to children in the UK. The scheme plans to
distribute a further 10,000 kits in the summer of 2009. The scheme has
also been responsible for the development of five purpose built
facilities across the UK at sites in London, Sheffield, Birmingham,
Nottingham and Manchester

- ENDS -

About npower:
npower
is one of Britain’s largest electricity supplier and supplies gas,
electricity and related services to 6.6 million customers across the
UK. npower is a market leader in renewable energy and sources the green
energy for juice directly from renewable sources, at no extra cost.

As
well as the the npower Ashes Series 2009, npower sponsors the Women’s
Test Series, the Twenty20 Cup and the Village Cup organised by the
Wisden Cricketer.

RWE npower has been awarded the prestigious
CommunityMark from Business in the Community (BITC). npower is the only
utility business, amongst 21 other companies in the UK, to receive this
accolade. The CommunityMark is a new BITC standard which has been
created to recognise companies that are good investors in local
communities and who have brought about real and positive changes.