RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour teams launch third edition of Basil Butcher Trust Fund

…Butcher family supports

The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) Namilco Thunderbolt Flour First Division Team, along with their Under-21 counterparts, have launched the third edition of the Basil Butcher Trust Fund at a simple ceremony held at the Area H Ground on the Corentyne in East Berbice.

Since 2020, these teams have been hosting the trust fund in memory of the legendary Test player, who died in December 2019 in the USA after a period of illness.

The teams handed over three bicycles valued at $70,000 to two under-17 players and a single parent mother of three.
At that handing over ceremony, Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that the cycles were sponsored by three children of Basil Butcher, and this is the start of several projects in 2022 under the trust fund.
Among the other projects planned under the trust fund are the distribution of more bicycles, school bags, school uniforms, educational grants, food hampers, and the hosting of several award programmes for youths, Police officers, and medical workers, among others.
Foster, who is also President of the Berbice Cricket Board, disclosed that hundreds of youths have, over the last two years, benefited from the trust fund in the form of bicycles, educational materials, cricket gear, sports equipment, clothing, footwear, and educational grants.
The fund has also contributed office equipment, stationery and medical items among other things to several public institutions. Thousands of food hampers have, moreover, been distributed across Berbice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and flooding crises.
RHTY&SC Asst Secretary/CEO Jonathan Rampersaud has urged the recipients to take care of the bicycles, and also to always promote the legacy of the late Basil Butcher. He expressed gratitude to the family of the late legend with special mention being made of Blossom, Bruce and Basil Butcher Jnr.
The late Basil Butcher had played 44 Test matches for the West Indies between 1958 and 1968, and had scored 3104 runs at an average of 43.11, with seven centuries and sixteen half centuries.
Butcher was also a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970, and later played a great role in the development of the game in Linden, where he captained the First Division team for a very long time.
He had also served on the Guyana Cricket Board as a Vice President and as Chairman of the West Indies Selection Committee. For many years, Butcher also gave back to the game via a Basil Butcher Cricket Fund, which provided gear to young cricketers. One of the players who benefited from Butcher’s kindness is current West Indies player Shimron Hetmyer.
The RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour teams are sponsored by the National Milling Company (NAMILCO), and among the players are Kelvin Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Jonathan Rampersaud, Slyus Tyndall, Eon Hooper, Delbert Hicks, Keith Simpson, Mahendra Gopilall, Jeremy Sandia and Chanderpaul Govindan.