RHTY&SC/BCB Basil Butcher Trust Project continues to make strides

The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS, (RHTY&SC) and the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) had of recent jointly launched the Basil Butcher Trust Project in tribute to the late legendary West Indies Test Player Basil Butcher.
Among their activities had been distribution of 500 hampers and assistance to a family whose house had collapsed due to high winds that had assailed the Corentyne Coast.

The ten cricket teams of Guyana’s leading youth and sports club, in conjunction with the BCB, have launched another project to make a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate in Berbice.
The teams: Poonai Pharmacy Under-12, Under-13, Farfan and Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Females, and Namilco Under-21 and First Division, with the blessings of the family of the late West Indies batting legend, launched the Basil Butcher Trust Project.
With the cooperation of the proactive BCB, the teams have, to date, donated more than 500 food hampers in areas in West Berbice, New Amsterdam/Canje, Lower and Upper Corentyne, and have assisted the family of Ms Roopranie Latchminarine of No 67 Village, whose house had collapsed during a recent storm.
Secretary/CEO of the RHTY&SC and President of the BCB, Hilbert Foster, stated that the late Basil Butcher was a very close friend of the club and played a major role in the development of its cricket section and charity outreach programme.
The management sought, and was granted, permission by the Butcher Family to honour the veteran of 44 Test matches for the West Indies.
Butcher had scored 3104 runs at an average of 43.10, and had made seven centuries and 16 half-centuries. His highest test score was a brilliant 209 not out versus England, while he had scored 11,628 runs at the first- class level, with 31 centuries and 54 half- centuries at an amazing average of 49.90.
After his retirement at the age of 36 years in 1969, Butcher had served Guyana and West Indies cricket as an administrator, doing so with great success.
The teams and the BCB intend to assist dozens of less fortunate players with cricket gear under the project, such as batting gloves, batting pads and wicket-keeping gloves; while bicycles would also be given to less fortunate students in an effort to get them to attend school regularly after its reopening following the coronavirus crisis.
The RHTY&SC, with the support of Blossom Butcher, has opened a Go Fund Me account in the United States to raise funds for the project.
Foster led an eight-man delegation to distribute the hampers, and also handed over a special donation of food items, clothing, footwear, household and kitchen utilities to the Latchminarine family, while committing the club and the board to assisting the family in the future. He wished them well as they try to carry on with their lives after the family house had fallen down during a storm. He urged them, also, to remain strong in their faith in God. The team also shared out food hampers in the No 65 Squatting Area, where dozens of families live in poor conditions.
The RHTY&SC and the BCB have, over the last four months, shared out 21,000 pounds of chicken products and cleaning supplies, and hundreds of face masks as part of the coronavirus response programme. Foster has stated that as long as he remains head of both organisations, those organisations would be involved in activities that are intended to make a positive difference in the lives of people and in their home communities.
The cricket teams would like to express gratitude to all the donors who contributed to the effort, including NAMILCO, Bounty Farm, Farfan and Mendes Ltd and Bakewell, among others.