Sportsman’s dinner raises more than £3,000 for St Catherine’s

A former local cricket club made sure their name lived on by organising a sportsman’s dinner in aid of St Catherine’s Hospice.

After 92 years as a club, St Joseph’s Cricket Club unfortunately disbanded in 2014 due to a lack of players, but their sportsman’s dinner held at Preston Grasshoppers had already been booked well in advance.

Instead of cancelling their annual occasion, the team decided they’d host their usual dinner, with the proceeds on the night going to St Catherine’s instead.

Led by Club President Frank Turley, the event in total raised £3,510 for charity.

“We’ve been doing the sportsman’s dinner for 35 years now,” said Frank who handed over the proceeds to the hospice early last week. “It seemed a shame to stop doing the event just because the club had disbanded, so instead of giving the venue away, I decided I’d keep the dinner, but do it for charity instead.

“We’ve never made anything like the money we made this year before in our whole existence, that’s how strongly people feel about St Catherine’s.

“A friend of mine died in St Catherine’s, and when I came I was really impressed with the place. A lot of people who were there have been touched by St Catherine’s, and you could tell that by the way people were buying the tickets.

“I did a little speech to say what St Catherine’s does, and made sure I got the message out about the brilliant work being done.

“Frank was certainly not alone in organising the 150 strong event, and stressed without the help of others it wouldn’t have been possible.

“We had plenty of people and businesses help out with the event. Preston North End, Marks & Spencer, and Booths all donated something for the raffle.

“Glyn Budden at Sleeve It Ltd, and Elaine and Andrew Turley from Loud and Clear Graphics also helped out enormously with it all. Everyone came together, we had a great time and we all enjoyed ourselves.”

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