On the 14th of September, Headstone Manor Cricket Club hosted our annual charity six-a-side fundraiser. This year we were raising funds for the Big Hug Foundation.

The day got off to a rocky start with an unexpected morning yoga class for the elderly taking place on the outfield of the main pitch. However we were soon back on track just  in time for the matches – slightly less calm than the yogis…

Six teams had entered from all parts of the UK with men and women joining forces to put on some spectacular cricket through the day. In our fifth game of the day we had our very own Rieya Patel pick up a hattrick! (In a 5 ball over no less) – setting the bar high for her debut at HMCC.

We had a BBQ managed by our resident BBQ specialists Dylan Assani and Waaris Deen with corn, chicken wings, halloumi and more burgers than we knew what to do with and with Jaymin Thakrar running the show we were well ahead of schedule so everyone got to sit together, eat and watch the toss for our showcase HMCC derby: The Tailenders v Manor’s Finest.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather and over 50 people including friends and family came down to support the teams and the cause. We were unbelievably lucky to have some delicious food provided by The Seven (which my dad is still raving about 2 weeks later), beer provided by Kingfisher and some CWC19 treats from the Bharat Army. An event like this could not be a success without the unbelievable support we received from these incredible people.

The finals took place at 5pm between Manor’s Finest and Six Fine Legs captained by Neel Patel and Saba Nasim. It was a spectacular game with Adnaan Shakur taking an award winning catch on the boundary and some controversial decisions from the umpire Bibi Dandool. The day came to a close with the home team, Manor’s Finest taking the win to end one of our best tournaments yet.

In total we raised over £2750 of which £1650  was raised on the day itself – double that of the previous year and more than any of us could have imagined…

On that note, I wanted to tell you a little about where the money is going:

Did you know 663 million people in the world live without clean water? That’s nearly 1 in 10 people worldwide.

Chamanapalli Village School in Hyderabad houses 126 children. Water from the bore well near the school is contaminated and so the children do not have access to clean drinking water during the day. The school is in an isolated area and each day the children (aged 6-11) walk several miles to fill a plastic bottle to take with them to school.

£2,038 = the cost of a water purification system for the school.

Our one day of fundraising was able to cover the entire cost of providing clean water to a school in Hyderabad. Your donations mean these children are no longer at risk of catching waterbourne diseases and can spend more time in class and less time collecting water.

The additional money raised will be put towards other projects including: A nutrition project, a vocational skills project for women and many others.

Thank you all and see you next year!