Towards the end of 2020, the Club launched the Essex Cricket Xmas Food Bank Appeal campaign.
Around the Christmas period every year, players from across all of the Club’s squads normally visit the Children’s Ward at Broomfield hospital to spread festive cheer and hand out presents.
However, due COVID-19, that wasn’t possible in 2020, but there was still a desire to do some charitable and help out during these unprecedented times. The players and staff decided to raise money for The Trussell Trust, who operate across Essex and provide food for families and individuals in crisis.
It was decided that to raise money, the players and staff would be run/walk 779km across a 2-week period. Why 779km? Well, that’s the distance from The Cloudfm County Ground to Lord’s, Lord’s to Edgbaston, Edgbaston to Taunton and Taunton back to The Cloudfm County Ground. These are the four grounds that Essex have won five trophies at over the last five years.
Players from the Men’s, Women’s, Academy and Ability sides took part, along with plenty of members of staff, and the total distance was reached with two days to spare.
The Club initially set a fundraising target of £3,000, which is the equivalent of 1,000 meals. Fortunately, there was plenty of interest from Members, supporters and sponsors and the total raised stands at a whopping £6,168.
On the fundraising, Club Captain Tom Westley said: “We’re extremely grateful to everybody who donated to our campaign.
“Times are tough for a lot of people at the moment, so it’s pleasing that we were able to pull together as a Club and do something which has hopefully made a difference to families and individuals across the county.”
Essex Cricket would also like to thank the following sponsors who donated to the fundraising:
Woodland Group
D&B Scaffolding
Wilkin & Sons
T Bello Group in partnership with Taco Bell
Trident Marketing
EASST
Scrutton Bland
The Kenton Group
The Essex Cricket Xmas Food Bank Appeal is still taking donations, and if you want to donate to this great cause, you can do so by clicking here:
