A charity cricket match at Hartlepool’s Park Drive has raised £6,000 for Alice House Hospice, turning an afternoon of local sport into practical support for hospice services.
The annual 20-over match brought together Hartlepool Cricket Club’s Over 40s cricket side and an Over 40s football team. The cricket team won by 14 runs after setting a target of 153, but the fundraising total was the result that mattered beyond the boundary.
Sport, remembrance and a local cause
The teams competed for the Danny Shurmer and James Parkinson Memorial Trophy, with the day also including a Player of the Match award for the John Rae Memorial Trophy. The event therefore carried a strong element of remembrance alongside the fundraising.
Families of those remembered were involved in the presentation, while a number of Hartlepool businesses and organisations supported the day. Mega Clearance Outlet was the main sponsor and the memorial trophy had been donated by local firm Azalea Wealth Management.
Alice House Hospice provides specialist care and support for people with life-limiting illness and their families across Hartlepool and the surrounding area. Community fundraising remains an important part of how that work is funded, which makes events such as this more than a ceremonial cheque at the end of a match.
£6,000 built from a community day
The hospice says it costs around £3.7 million each year to run its services, with only around a third of that coming from government funding. Against a figure of that size, £6,000 can look modest on paper. In reality it is the product of players giving their time, businesses backing an event, families attending and a local sports club turning its ground into a fundraising space.
The match itself remained competitive. Several players retired after reaching 30 runs for the cricket side, while the footballers kept the chase alive before finishing 14 runs short. That balance, a proper game rather than a staged exhibition, appears to be part of what gives the event its character.
There is a quieter strength in local fundraising events that return year after year. They create traditions around helping, make space to remember people properly and give communities a way to contribute without every act of support needing to be enormous.
This year’s £6,000 total will now go to Alice House Hospice. The scorebook will record the cricket result, but the more useful legacy is what the day generated for care in Hartlepool.