Westminster Challenge raises £15,000 at Lord's

Date released: 22 July 2003

Last week's Westminster Cricket Challenge Cup, staged at Lord's on Wednesday, raised £15,000 to help St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, step up its battle against bowel cancer.

Jointly arranged by MCC and Westminster City Council, the competition took place on the Nursery Ground and in MCC's Indoor Cricket School, and involved nine corporate teams - each of which had paid for the privilege of playing at cricket's 'headquarters'.

The team from Montagu Evans proved successful - winning the Westminster Cricket Challenge Cup in the competition's third year.

Courtesy of MCC, there was free admission to Lord's for the event - enabling countless local residents to watch the cricketing action. In addition, MCC arranged free tours of the ground. No fewer than 440 people - including the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Cllr Jan Prendergast - seized the opportunity to take a close behind-the-scenes look at Lord's.

Commenting on the day, the Lord Mayor said: "The Westminster Cricket Challenge Cup is a wonderful example of business, the local community and an established sporting venue all pulling together to benefit so many people in so many ways.

The MCC and Lord's mount a magnificent day's cricket; they treat the event as a means of involving the local community in a fun day; and they open all their facilities for everyone to see and enjoy. I had a wonderful day, and my charity benefited by £15,000 because of the efforts of all concerned".

A cheque for this amount was presented to Dr Julian Teare - of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington - by the Lord Mayor and MCC's President, Sir Tim Rice, who described the fund-raising as "a wonderful achievement in aid of a truly excellent cause".

The competition raised funds for the West London Day Centre in 2001 and the Spinal Research Trust last year.