– by Butcher Family and cricket teams of RHTY&SC, MS
– elderly robbery victim among those to benefit
“He was a legend on the cricket field during his career, and for decades was a positive role model and inspiration to all of us. He was a driving force in our success, and as such we feel privileged to honour him and to make sure that the legacy of Basil Butcher lives on. He always spoke of the importance of paying it forward, and this Trust Fund would make sure that his memory is forever with us”.
Those were the words of Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster as he officially launched the 2021 edition of the Basil Butcher Cricket Trust Fund. The Fund is a joint project of the RHTY&SC, MS, and the family of the late West Indies middle order batsman who died in December 2019 after a long illness.
RHTY&SC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster donating items to the care-giver of the senior citizen
Millions of dollars’ worth of cricket gear, cricket balls, sports equipment, bicycles, school bags, educational materials, food hampers, clocks, chicken products, cleaning detergents and COVID-19 protective items were donated across the county of Berbice in 2020, while 14 youths in Linden also benefited.
The Butcher family has been very supportive of the club’s efforts to make a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate, elderly and youths.
Foster, along with Blossom Butcher, the youngest daughter of the late Butcher, handed over a bicycle to Under-17 player Nathan Kistama to assist him to attend school and cricket practice sessions. The Fund also donated three cricket bats to the club’s Under-13 Cricket Development programme, while three junior cricketers each received a complete set of cricket uniforms.
Blossom Butcher posing with the youths who received items from the Basil Butcher Memorial Fund
The Butcher Fund also donated a large amount of household items and 3 cases of Ensure milk to a 98-year-old resident of Rose Hall Town who was brutally raped and beaten by bandits who had broken into her home on Monday evening.
The Fund also installed solar lights in that senior citizen’s home and yard in an effort to offer her protection at nights. Foster is also spearheading a project to repair the stairs to the home and several windows.
The Secretary of the RHTY&SC, MS, and President of the Berbice Cricket Board has committed the award-winning club to assisting the oldest living resident of Rose Hall Town as long as she lives. He also issued an appeal to the Guyana Police Force to bring to justice those responsible for the crime.
The Fund also handed over a financial contribution to the Kildonan Cricket Club to assist them to purchase two boxes of balls.
Blossom Butcher in brief remarks, praised the outstanding work of the club, and stated that her father had been a strong supporter of its efforts to touch the lives of the less fortunate.
She pledged to work along with Management of the RHTY&SC to make the 2021 edition of the Butcher Fund a success. Foster disclosed that the second edition of the fund would actually start around August, as the organisers would use the next six months to raise the necessary finance for the project. Special emphasis, he said, would be placed on assisting less fortunate cricketers, families and students.
The late Basil Butcher had played 44 test matches for the West Indies between 1958 and 1969, scoring 3104 runs at an average of 43.11, with seven centuries included.
