Celebrity Cricket Challenge triumphs again. £30k raised for WaterAid!
Media
29/07/2010
Mace hosted its second annual Celebrity cricket Challenge and raised £30,000 for WaterAid, beating 2009's total of £28,000.
The event, held at the BritOval in London on 14 July 2010, saw teams from the UK utilities and infrastructure industry battle it out for the coveted trophy with help from members of the Bunburys, the world's best celebrity cricket team. In total £30,000 was raised for WaterAid, which will assist the charity in its work to provide clean water and sanitation to some of the world's poorest people.
The weather held out to allow teams from Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, DHL, Enterprise, Mace, New Civil Engineer, Thames Water, United Utilities and VMH to play three games each on the world famous Oval wicket. Mace team the Pratt Street Boys and United Utilities qualified for the grand final by topping their respective groups. A sudden heavy downpour meant the final had to be played in the Oval's indoor arena but this did nothing to dampen the teams' competitive spirit. United Utilities, with ex-Premiership footballer John Solako batted first to score an impressive 67 runs from five overs. Strong bowling and tight fielding from the United Utilities team put pressure on the Pratt Street Boys batsmen who could not better the opposition's total, losing by nine runs.
A champagne reception followed with speeches from Girish Menon, Director of International Programmes for WaterAid, Dr David English, founder of the Bunburys, Roger Dakin, the Bunburys resident master of ceremonies and Andy Sharples, Mace utilities director brought the event to a close.
Head of National Fundraising for WaterAid, Alan Machin said: "We'd like to thank everyone involved in the Mace Celebrity Cricket Challenge for a fantastic day of cricket and for their hard work and generosity in raising an amazing £30,000. The money raised will help us transform the lives of some of the world's poorest people by bringing safe water, sanitation and hygiene education to their communities."
Mace utilities director, Andy Sharples adds: "I am extremely proud of the amount of money we have raised for WaterAid and of the efforts of all the companies involved in making the Mace Celebrity Cricket Challenge such a success, which I hope we can continue next year and beyond."
To view the images from the event click here.
