Members raise over £32,000 for Trust in year of need

PCA members have so far raised a combined £32,000 in aid of the Professional Cricketers’ Trust since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, supporting the charity which has faced a huge monetary shortfall in light of recent global events.

Though it’s been a difficult year for all, 2020 has seen the cricket community come together to unite behind the Trust’s #Charity10for10 campaign, whilst individual members and even England and Wales’ 33 first-class umpires have been creating their own unique fundraising challenges in aid of the charity.

It has all meant that £32,000 and counting has so far been raised for the Trust, which usually benefits from fundraising drives held at PCA events throughout the year, most of which have been cancelled or postponed for 2020.

The charity’s annual shortfall is expected to be in the region of £250,000, however, meaning there is plenty still to be done and ample opportunity to get involved and support the Trust this year.

The players’ charity, a leading sporting non-profit organisation, funds life-changing medical assistance, crisis helplines and mental health support for PCA members and their immediate families when they need it most.

As a result, many of this year’s fundraisers have been motivated by their own personal connections with the Trust. Below is a roundup of some of the most notable Professional Cricketers’ Trust fundraisers of summer 2020.

The #Charity10for10 campaign was devised by the Professional Cricketers’ Trust in order to kickstart this summer’s fundraising activities. Led by Trust Director Marcus Trescothick, members were encouraged to walk, run, swim or cycle 10km, donate £10 to the Trust and then encourage three more people to do the same.

The campaign took off and was widely shared on social media with support coming from the very top of the game in the form of England captains Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Heather Knight. Over £12,000 was raised through individual donations alone, as members improved their physical fitness whilst also donating to a worthy cause.

The Trust’s Fundraising Executive Sammy Relf (pictured below) went above and beyond the port of call, appealing for donations in memory of her late husband, former Kent batsman Richard ‘Dickie’ Davis, and setting the ambitious target of receiving a donation from every player who Dickie played with.

Relf kindly had her donations matched up to £500 by Matthew Fleming, who was a teammate and great friend of Richard’s, handing a significant boost to the wider #Charity10for10 campaign.

Trust beneficiary Keith Newell (also provided inspiration as he cycled and then ran 10km with daughter Jessica (pictured above), who suffers from a life-limiting form Mitochondrial Disease. 

Keith very generously donated £100 to the Trust as he also gave an update to the players’ charity regarding his family’s ongoing story.

The Trust was also grateful to receive over £500 from ex-Gloucestershire man Jack Davey (pictured above). The 75-year-old completed the #Charity10for10 challenge before actively seeking donations from family and friends with significant success.

The headline story of the #Charity10for10 campaign came from South Africa as former Warwickshire man Andy Moles captured the imagination of the cricket community as he got to grips with life on a new leg.

Ex-opening batsman Moles was forced to undergo an amputation on his left leg after complications resulting from a blister on his foot.

Not one to be kept down, the Afghanistan Director of Cricket instead used his story for good, completing 10km on his new prosthetic leg over the course of a month, finishing on the waterfront in Cape Town.

Moles has raised an astonishing £15,000 in the process, and said it was “heartwarming and humbling” to have received so many messages from ex-teammates and opponents from around the world.

He was given a helping hand by the BBC Test Match Special team, who featured Moles’ story in a teatime interview with Jonathan Agnew during England’s second Test against the West Indies at Emirates Old Trafford.

Former Northants man Patrick Foster also put his own unique spin on the #Charity10for10 challenge, completing an incredible 1,000km on foot during the first 100 days of lockdown.

Foster, who has spoken openly about his battles with gambling addiction, set himself the goal as he felt the Covid-19 restrictions presented him with a “different kind of personal challenge”.

He has since raised a sensational £1,160 and counting for the Professional Cricketers’ Trust as a result of his efforts, hailing the Trust’s work as “not life-changing, but life-saving”.

James Knott is another PCA member who set himself a daunting physical challenge to be completed on foot.

Knott pledged to walk during every minute of play as cricket returned to our screens when England took on the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in early July.

Eventually completing 72.5 miles – or 190,000 steps – across the five days, Knott’s efforts proved to be outstanding, and this was recognised by the general public as he has raised £1,800 and counting for the Trust.

England and Wales’ 33 first-class umpires joined Knott and Foster in setting themselves an ambitious walking challenge, and their’s was similar to Foster’s in that it was measured by distance rather than duration.

The group cumulatively covered the equivalent distance from Emirates Old Trafford to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore (around 9,436 miles) ahead of the beginning of the domestic season on 1 August.

Many are former professional cricketers and therefore PCA members, so Paul Baldwin stated that it “seemed only right” to give back to a body that had been so supportive of them.

The ‘First Class Walk’ has raised over £1,000 for the Trust, as well as supporting two other charities in the British Asian Trust and Prostate Cancer UK.

Visit our website to find out what you can do to help the Professional Cricketers’ Trust offset its annual shortfall of £250,000.