Dinner with Adam Goodes and Ellyse Perry

Who can forget Adam Goodes‘s warrior-like performance leading the Swans to an epic 2012 Grand Final win despite a heavily bandaged left knee from an injury sustained in the second quarter of the match? Or Ellyse Perry‘s impressive bowling effort steering Australia to victory in the World Cup Final in Mumbai ripping through the Windies top order with 3 wicket for 2 runs in a 10 ball spell, just after blasting 25 runs off 22 balls with a badly strained ankle!

So we are delighted that sports stars and legends-in-the-making Adam Goodes and Ellyse Perry are the guest speakers at the Cricketers’ Club of NSW dinner at Parliament House this year, a dinner that they’re appropriately calling “The Courage of Champions”. All proceeds go to The LBW Trust. The dinner is on June 20 and you can find more information about booking here: CCNSW Courage of Champions Dinner Invitation 20 June 2013.

 

New students in Pakistan

Kulsoom Madid Ali

Kulsoom: pharmacy.

Owais Ishitiaque at TCF

Owais: business administration.

We are delighted to be working with Pakistan NGO The Citizens Foundation, and to welcome 11 new scholarship students who have just started their studies with the support of The LBW Trust. Pictured are Kulsoom and Owais. Kulsoom is studying a Pharmacy degree at a university in Karachi, and Owais is undertaking a Bachelor of Business Administration at another university in the same city. We wish Kulsoom and Owais and their nine colleagues all the best with their studies.

Graduating students in Bangalore find great jobs

At The LBW Trust we believe education is the way to a better future, and our graduating students in Bangalore are proving that. We are delighted to report that 20 students supported by The LBW Trust through Prerana Nurture Merit in Bangalore, India, have just graduated, many with quite extraordinary results. While there is no academic requirement for our scholarships, we want to congratulate a few outstanding students who have done particularly well despite difficult circumstances.

Nancy, 20, whose mother has laboured as a housemaid to support her and her sister, has graduated and secured a good job at Deutschebank.

Prakash, who has lived in a slum with his mother and younger brother, has graduated with very high marks and secured an articleship in a Chartered Accountants firm.

And Leelavathy, who was to be married at 16, instead scored full marks on her final maths and phsyics exams in her Bachelor of Science degree and is now on her way to being a science lecturer. We are so proud of all the Prerana students and wish them the very best.

Congratulations to LBW Trust Ambassador Ellyse Perry and the Australian Women’s Team

Ellyse Perry. Image from CricInfo.

Ellyse Perry. Image from CricInfo.

LBW Trust Ambassador and dual international Ellyse Perry is fast becoming a legend of Australian sport – and her performance at the World Cup in Mumbai is a perfect example of why. Fighting through the pain of an injured ankle to deliver a match-winning series of deliveries, Ellyse lead her team to World Cup victory over the West Indies in Mumbai. Congratulations to Ellyse and the team from everyone at The LBW Trust. You can read more about the final here.

Kumar Sangakkara at the SCG

See why former Sri Lankan cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara got a standing ovation at the SCG, (and not even on the field!), when he talked to LBW Trust director Mike Coward at The LBW Trust Annual Dinner on January 25, 2013. Sangakkara talked about his life and career, including life in Sri Lanka during the civil war, the 2009 attack by gunmen on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, Pakistan, and giving the Cowdrey Memorial Oration at Lords. The video of his 45 minute talk is here in two parts:  Part 1

and Part 2

Australian up-and-comer Mitchell Starc also chatted with Mike Coward on the night, and you can watch that discussion here (although the audio is a bit quiet):

LBW Trust Chairman Darshak Mehta’s speech about the Trust’s activities for 2013 is here:

 

The 2013 Annual Dinner with Kumar Sangakkara

On Friday, 25th January our seventh Annual Dinner was held in the Steve Waugh room of the SCG. Over 350 people attended, including five Patrons: Rodney Cavalier, Greg Chappell, Senator John Faulkner, Basil Sellers and Malcolm Speed.

Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lankan captain who had the rare privilege of delivering the Spirit of Cricket – Cowdrey Memorial Oration at Lords in 2011 was interviewed by LBW Trust Director, Mike Coward. When his interview concluded, the audience gave Sangakkara a standing ovation. This is the first time an LBW dinner hs seen such a spontaneous accolade. Sangakkara really connected with our guests and supporters.

Australian Fast Bowler, Mitchell Starc also charmed the crowd during his chat with Mike Coward.

Video highlights from our Chairman Darshak Mehta’s speech can be viewed here. There are photos from the dinner here:

 

 

 

Sangakkara with Starc for dinner, January 25

He might have been forced off the pitch by injury, but former Sri Lankan cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara will still be the star attraction at our seventh Annual Dinner, to be held on Friday, January 25, 2013 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. And now Australian left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc is joining us too. More information and bookings here.

Kumar Sangakkara

Sangakkara, one of the world’s finest and most decorated cricketers, is the International Cricket Council’s reigning Cricketer of the Year and Wisden Almanack’s current leading Cricketer in the World. He has a remarkable record in all forms of the game. He reached Australia for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy series with the imposing average of 56.73 in 111 Test matches since his debut in 2000. He has just become the eleventh batsman to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket and he can modestly point to 30 centuries – eight of them being double hundreds. Only Sir Donald Bradman (12) and Brian Lara (9) have scored more double centuries.

An aggressive left-hander who plays with a flair and joy so characteristic of the contemporary Sri Lankan cricketer, he is much loved by crowds the world over. This was borne out again this year when he won ICC’s People’s Choice Award for the second consecutive year. This will be the first time he has played Test cricket on the historic cricket grounds of Melbourne and Sydney. In 2011 Kumar had the distinction of giving the Cowdrey Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s and was acclaimed for his courageous and insightful portrayal of cricket in post-colonial Sri Lanka. This is a rare opportunity to hear from one of the world’s greatest and most thoughtful and eloquent cricketers.

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Student news

STUDENT NEWS

INDIA
Yuva Parivartan
We are very pleased to announce our support for 188 students at new vocational training facilities in the provinces of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The funding is being coordinated through Yuva Parivartan, a program which targets students who have dropped out of high school or tertiary institutions due to difficult life circumstances, and offers them a second chance to complete their education. Our funding goes to advanced vocational training, including computer science programs, where classes will feature a mix of students who have not completed high school and those who have.

Association for India’s Development Industrial Training Centre
In Orissa, we are renewing our commitment to fund 66 students through the AID Industrial Training Centre for the second year running. LBW’s support has helped AID ITC install equipment necessary to offer new courses in electrical installations and fitting and turning from next year. A recent external audit of audit of AID ITC’s activities reported an impressive expansion of student programs and the positive impact the centre has had on the local economy and community.
VECT students planting trees on World Environment Day at college in Bhubaneswar
Vikash Educational Charitable Trust
Also in Orissa, through our partnership with the Vikash Educational Charitable Trust the LBW Trust will continue to support 35 students in 2013 – including Jashika Pattnaik (pictured with fellow VECT students at college planting a tree on World Environment Day this year), who is achieving strong results in her final year of an Information Technology degree.

UGANDA
The first group of LBW Trust-funded students in Uganda have graduated, and we are delighted that all of them have found work in their chosen field. We have also renewed our commitment to support 35 studentsnext year, again through our partnership with Australian NGO One Village, in a mix of nursing, teaching and mechanics trades courses.

SRI LANKA AND AFGHANISTAN
With the scholarships awarded to 50 new students from Sri Lanka earlier this year through Sri Lankan NGO CandleAid, and the three young women we are supporting through medical degrees in Afghanistan, the total number of students we now support has passed 450.

Anara and Fatima, two LBW Trust students in Afghanistan

Anara and Fatima, two LBW Trust students in Afghanistan

The LBW Trust Annual Golf Day at The Lakes

For the first time our annual golf day was held at The Lakes Golf Club, which is soon to host the 2012 Australian Open. The championship course was in magnificent condition on October 25, and won rave reviews from 85 players who relished the sun at their backs – even if they quietly cursed the strength of the wind. The ambrose competition was keenly contested with Scott Olding’s team finishing atop a very even field. Celebrations at the 19th continued into the night at a buffet dinner attended by patrons Malcolm Speed, Rodney Cavalier and Senator John Faulkner.

This gathering provided a perfect opportunity to congratulate Speed on his recent induction to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and Cavalier on being appointed an honorary life member of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Renowned ABC broadcasters Jim Maxwell and Peter Wilkins provided entertaining accounts of their year behind the microphone while former Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson metaphorically pushed off his long run when asked whether the iconic Kookaburra cricket ball was in danger of being superseded by balls from England and India. It was a memorable day which significantly assisted the LBW Trust’s fundraising activities.

 

Job Vacancy at The LBW Trust – Event Co-ordinator

We are looking for an energetic and committed volunteer to join our Event Co-Ordination team. The LBW Trust organises two major events each year – our annual fundraising dinner in January/February and our golf day in October.

Our Event Co-ordinators :

• Book venues, negotiate menus and pricing;
• Organise celebrity speakers;
• Hunt for sponsors and donations;
• Promote the event and pursue guests; and
• Set up and manage the event on the day/night.

The reward for the role cannot be measured in dollars. There are none! But you will have made a huge contribution to The LBW Trust’s work in supporting the education of over 350 disadvantaged young men and women in developing, cricket-playing nations.

If you are interested, please contact Ron Holmes at rwhlbw[at]yahoo.com.au or Tom Bowes, Secretary, at tom.bowes[at]hsf.com.