Marathon trekkers match raises funds for charity
by Alan Rowley, 21st May 2006

Langley Mill Cricket Club is to host a charity cricket match on Sunday June 4th to help raise funds for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. The match, featuring a Ram FM Celebrity XI, has been organised by father and son team Kevin and Simon Horsnall, who are taking part in a marathon sponsored trek in Iceland. The 50 kilometre trek will take them four days to complete and will cross glaciers and rivers in the south east of the country.

Kevin, an office worker, and Simon, a student at Leeds University and a marine cadet instructor, are both from Ilkeston. Their inspiration behind the fundraising is Kevin's five year old niece Sophie who has been blind from birth. All the funds raised from the trek, and the match, will be donated to the R.N.I.B and the pair need to raise £4,000 from the trek. The event has already cost the lads £200 each and a weeks holiday from work, to set up.

The lads have raised £1,500 from a series of quizzes, bag packing, car washing and helping out in local schools and banks. They still have a long way to go to reach their target, but it's hoped that the charity cricket match will be a huge financial success.

The Ram FM Celebrity XI select their team from a group of volunteers including Ram FM disc jockeys and presenters and sports reporters. Also in the squad is Richard Felix, from Living TV's Most Haunted, Ross Davenport, Commonwealth Games swimming champion, Derby County Football Club's Terry Westley and Derbyshire Cricket Club's Kevin Dean.

Admission to the game, which will be held at Langley Mill's Station Road ground, will be £1, with programmes costing a further £1. Also planned are stalls, a raffle and an auction. The game will start at 1:30pm and will be 30 overs per side.

For more information, or to donate raffle or auction prizes, please contact Alan Rowley on alan@thefollowon.com, or Kevin Horsnall on kevin.horsnall@ntlworld.com. For more information on the trek, visit the R. N. I. B. website here.