Merry Cricketmas from the LBW Trust

On behalf of the Board of Directors of The LBW Trust, we write to wish you a very Happy Holiday season and all the best for the year ahead. 2018 has been a big year for the Trust, and we invite you to reflect on some of our proudest moments below.

The year began with Batting for Change hitting a 6 out of the park at its inaugural Pre-Match Party at the SCG. Surpassing the fundraising target of $100,000 as the Batting for Change Cup Sydney Smash commenced, 300 supporters joined together to make a powerful statement about how we can level the global playing field in education. If you’re interested in attending the 2019 event, you can purchase tickets here (they make a great last-minute Christmas gift!).

The 2018 Annual Dinner was a resounding success, with Dr Ntaiya and two scholarship recipients from the inaugural cohort of the Kakenya Center for Excellence in Kenya addressing the room about the power of education to transform lives and communities. Our guest of honour, Sir Richard Hadlee, enthralled the room in conversation with Mike Coward, and we were once again humbled by the support shown to the Trust by those in attendance. If you’d like to purchase tickets to the 2019 Dinner, featuring Mahela Jayawardene, you can do so here.

2018 was also hugely successful for the Women for Change initiative. From the success of our second annual campaign around International Women’s Day to the launch of the Standing on Our Shoulders fundraising program, this committee of women continue to embody the idea that we can stand on each others shoulders to lift the next generation. If you’re interested in reading more about the year that was for Women for Change, you can do so here.

Our Ambassadors continue to shine, with Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy certainly worthy of mention after their successful Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, which included a Player-of-the-Tournament recognition for Alyssa. Heading into the WBBL season for the Sydney Sixers, we are immensely proud to have these two inspiring young women partnering with us to make a statement about creating change through education.

As we enter another cricketing summer, we are already seeing great displays of support in our vision to level the global playing field in education. In late November, Batting for Change in partnership with Nova Entertainment hosted the first annual Backyard Cricket match at Kirribilli House, featuring celebrities such as Guy Sebastian, Brett Lee, Ed Cowan, and the Prime Minister himself! Building on this momentum, the Batting for Change Corporate Challenge on 7 December was a great day of fun and cricket, raising more than $100,000 to support our partner projects in India.

Our international partner projects go from strength to strength, with So They Can leading the way in Tanzania and the Heartland College in Nepal recognised for its nationally certified curriculum. Our Education Committee continues to work tirelessly to ensure our project reporting is held to the highest standards, and we are very excited about furthering our global impact in 2019.

Thank you once again to everybody who has supported The LBW Trust in 2018. We wish you a safe and happy holidays, and we look forward to seeing you in 2019!