Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
The Motivation: Bernard Hedges was born in Pontypridd in 1927. He was a gifted sportsman who showed his talent on the rugby field and the cricket pitch. He played rugby for Pontypridd and Swansea. In 1950, he made his debut for Glamorgan and played for eighteen seasons, amassing nearly 18,000 runs. He remains seventh in the all-time run scorers list for the county and was the first Glamorgan player to score a century in one day cricket. On news of his death earlier this year, he was variously described as ‘outstanding’, ‘a great games player’ and ‘a great bloke’. Like many stalwarts of the County Game in his era, Bernard would not have recognised these descriptions. He was a very humble man who simply played his sport for the love of it. He epitomised the grit and determination of the many Welsh sportsman who came from the Valleys. The way he met his death from bowel cancer was the way he lived his life. Quietly , with bravery and dignity. Such a life deserved to be remembered in some way.
The Walk : We wanted to match the physical efforts that Bernard made in his career with something that might inspire others to support us. A walk all around the boundary of wales seemed an obvious choice. The walk is around 1050 miles long and follows the Wales coastal path as well as Offa’s Dyke, the National Trail that snakes its way down from Prestatyn to Chepstow. When finished, we will have climbed the height of Everest four times over (130,000 ft approx.) and spent 51 days walking up to 25 miles a day.
The Cause : Cricket Wales is the National governing Body
for the junior and senior recreational game in Wales. It has contact with over 60 clubs and input
into over 300 schools, organising cricket in a range of formats that encourages
people of all abilities to play and get benefit from the game of cricket. Like all grass roots sporting bodies, it
provides the lifeblood of the professional game in Wales. Its development and success will breed the
new players who will go on to have success with Wales’ only cricketing County,
Glamorgan. We have set a target of
£10,000 to raise on the walk for this great organisation that does so much to
promote Summer sport in Wales. All the money raised will go towards funding the work Chance to Shine does in Wales. Chance to Shine is a national campaign which provides children in state schools with the opportunity to play competitive cricket and benefit from the life skills and values the game provides.