Friends of Grace Road make another generous donation
Fri 6 Feb 2015
More than 40 years ago, a group of Leicestershire Cricket Club supporters formed the Friends of Grace Road to organise events for its members and raise funds for the Club.
In those days, the Friends ran coach trips to away matches, sold clothing and merchandise and held raffles, coffee mornings, a Christmas Market and even a Fashion Show. The offerings have changed over the years and now teas, coffees, homemade cakes, confectionery, books and many items of merchandise are provided for cricket spectators.
One thing hasn’t changed - the Friends of Grace Road have continuously made sizeable annual donations to the Club, and today, the Friends made another special presentation to the Club at the KIT Club lunch. The hardworking Friends again raised a fantastic amount during the course of the 2014 season and handed over a cheque to Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Chief Executive Wasim Khan MBE.
Friends of Grace Road Chairman Roy Bent said: “I am very pleased to announce that the 2014 donation from the Friends to the Club amounts to £12,000, and that this money will be spent by the Club on the construction and fitting out of a new Medical Centre downstairs in the Meet at Grace Road.
“This will clearly be a great medical facility that will directly help the preparation and recovery of Leicestershire’s players and will serve members and spectators if anyone is unfortunate enough to need medical attention. We are so pleased that our donation has contributed so much to making this happen.”
Wasim added: “I am delighted to receive this cheque on behalf of the Club. The Friends of Grace Road carry out a huge amount of work in raising funds for us.
“We want to continue to improve facilities and the new Medical Centre is a vital addition at Grace Road. It will give a lot more space to our Science & Medicine team and the players. The fact that the new medical centre is on ground level will mean that it will be easier to treat injured players.”
The Friends are still looking to recruit volunteers for the 2015 season and Roy said that anybody interested in helping, even if only for a couple of hours from time to time, should get in touch as soon as possible.
He said: “Like everyone else, I am encouraged by the positive messages and the emergence of a new era at the Club. Therefore, I am pleased that the Friends of Grace Road can now add to those positive messages.
“We will be offering the same teas, coffees and homemade cakes in the Meet for the foreseeable future, albeit perhaps with reduced opening hours, and we may even revert to some of our previous activities, such as running coaches to some away games.
“The overriding message for 2015 is that the Friends of Grace Road is again looking to raise significant funds for the Club. Of course, we would always welcome some new volunteer helpers, but we hope that you will all continue to support the Friends of Grace Road and the Club in the future.”
To offer your help, please call the Club on 0116 283 2128 or send an email to foxes@leicestershireccc.co.uk and the Club will send your details to the Friends, or email directly to the Friends at friendsofgraceroad@btinternet.com.
