| |
Following the sales of his book ‘100 Not Out’ Colin
Perkins raised a fantastic £5,000 for two great causes.
Half of the profits, £2500, have been donated to Childine the
other half to the Youth section of the Cricket Club. As ChildLine
is a partner charity the donation was doubled by the Towergate
Charitable Foundation. Colin was able to present a cheque for £5000
to Pat Laurie of the NSPCC on 12th December.
|
The book is all about a Century of Cricket at Castle Park it is
full of photographs and witty anecdotes about Colchester & East
Essex Cricket Club. If any colleague’s from other Towergate
Office’s would like to purchase a copy they cost £10.00 each and if
they contact me I can arrange to send it onto them.
Colin realised that the Club in 2008 would have been at its present
location, Castle Park, for 100 years. He thought it would be an
idea to recognise this in some format and at the same time raise
money for good causes. A good friend of Colin’s has a background in
publishing and they got together and came up with the idea of a
souvenir brochure. They wanted it to stand out from the traditional
club publications which is why they chose a full colour A4 size
with contributions from friends and well known cricket people who
have had a connection with the Club.
Why ChildLine was
chosen
Colin and his publisher wanted to raise funds for the Cricket club
in some way (primarily for youth) and after seeing the ChildLine
video, Colin felt it was important to do something for them as
well. The emphasis on raising money for young people at the club
and for Childline seemed to work and they have been successful with
sales to date. In fact Waterstones in Colchester took 50 copies and
have been selling it in their shop (it was even one of their
recommended books of the month, during the summer). Colin also
persuaded Colchester Rugby Club to let him say a few words at one
of their lunches and managed to raise £216 for the cause (100% to
Childline) on the day.
Colin contacted NSPCC in Essex and got to know Lucy Lock (Essex
Fundraising Manager). She provided Colin with posters and
promotional material to display at the Club. Colin we got some good
local publicity for the Club (with the 100 year theme) and tried
where possible to mention Childline. This included an interview
live on BBC Essex radio one afternoon.
After “moving” to Towergate Bury St Edmunds, Colin realised our
team are very keen on doing good whilst having fun so the project
really got a lift.
Colin is a qualified ECB Youth Coach and has been involved coaching
young people at the club and locally for the last 15 years or so.
Colin says: “Cricket is my main pastime, I’m too old to play
anymore !!”
Please refer to www.colchestercricket.org
for some info and photos.
Elaine
Hill
Charity
Champion Towergate Bury St Edmunds