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Thursday 1 April 2021 11:28am

Cricket Fundraiser image
Sam Blake along with other students created a team and partnered with Otago Cricket to hold the event.

A student with a heart for cricket and charity had an idea on how to use those to benefit others.

Bachelor of Laws and Commerce third-year student Sam Blake has previously spent time volunteering in Sri Lanka for the Cricket Live Foundation.

“The Cricket Live Foundation use the sport as a vehicle to enrich the lives of underprivileged youth in Sri Lanka and India. They have a focus on life skills and career pathways. While I was there, I assisted the coaches and helped with fixing and improving the facilities.”

Last year, Sam had an idea that while studying he could contribute to the charity by creating a fundraising event here at home.

“The idea evolved from a game amongst friends to two teams of quality cricketers, a Student XI taking on an invitational XI of up and coming cricketers from around Dunedin.”

Last month Sam founded Students for a Cause as a platform for the fundraiser. Himself and a group of Otago students joined up to create a team and partnered with Otago Cricket to hold the event.

“It was a joint effort in the end. A friend of mine at Dunedin Cricket, Nic Kittelty, helped make the event possible.”

“We had a raffle which raised over a thousand dollars. We had sponsors for the game who donated as well as corporate sponsors such as KPMG. We also had support from businesses such as Gravity Events who loaned us speakers for the day.”

The fundraiser was a huge success and Sam says it’s likely to make a reappearance in the future.

“There was an awesome atmosphere at the ground with spectators and players enjoying ground announcing and music. I got plenty of great feedback so I would like to make it an annual event.”

The donations are already on the way to Cricket Live Foundation with the students efforts raising a few thousand dollars to support young people in need.

Kōrero by Internal Communications Adviser, Chelsea McRae

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