As the Premier League football season closes, attention (in the UK at least) turns to cricket for the next few months with England playing New Zealand and Australia in Test matches this summer, along with the ICC Champions trophy.
So with cricket enjoying the media spotlight, it is as a good a time as ever to update you with what CWB has been up to for the first part of this year.
CWB volunteers can now donate an unlimited amount of cricket equipment to people in developing countries thanks to a new partnership with LV= SOS Kit Aid.
At the click of a button people can arrange to have their old kit picked up from their home, school or club and delivered to places all over the world including CWB project countries Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda.
Laura a first time CWB volunteer reflects on her CWB experience, an amazing two weeks spent in Northern Uganda.
After a cold beer in the hotel in Arua, my excitement levels were running high. I could tell from the faces of the other Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) volunteers that they were feeling the same. The beer was well deserved as the journey didn't get off to a great start. Two hours in to a ten hour bus ride to our hotel a police officer confiscated our license plates and sent us off to a garage over the road to fix a wheel alignment issue. While waiting we were approached by market sellers offering a range of produce; from straw hats to mangoes... definitely an introduction to Africa!
A picture taken by Cricket Without Boundaries volunteer Lee Booth has been shortlisted in the third annual Wisden – MCC Cricket Photograph of the year competition.
CWB are delighted to announce that we have been chosen as the Charity of the year by two organisations.
North Nibley Cricket Club, situated on the edge of the Cotswolds, have chosen CWB to raise funds for projects in Africa. Andy Kinnear said "As a club we were looking for a way in which we could partner with clubs in the developing world. During this search I came across the work of CWB and was immediately struck by the real difference they are making in Africa. There is a lot of enthusiasm to support CWB in our club, and we are looking forward to get started with our fundraising efforts". It is also hoped that members of the club will volunteer on future volunteer projects.
I am one of the lucky people to have benefited from CWB’s visits to Rwanda every year since 2008.
The charity has had a really positive impact on my life, has raised my spirits and made me love cricket even more.
CWB is a charity that tries to use Cricket to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in some of the poorest parts of the world, where the infection rates are on an epidemic scale. A significant part of the problem is that women are treated as second class citizens, both economically and sexually. Since CWB was founded in 2005 one of the key parts has been to ensure that boys and girls play together so that they are more likely to see each other as equals.
The Duchess of Rutland is to join Cricket Without Boundaries for its upcoming project in Rwanda.
Her Grace will play a full part in the trip; coaching children in schools and orphanages, training new coaches and delivering vital HIV/AIDS awareness messages.
Encouraging people to get regular HIV/AIDS tests and to know their status is an integral part of Cricket Without Boundaries' work in Africa
In October 2012 a schools cricket festival in Laikipia, Kenya, became the first CWB event to have voluntary testing tents present at the side of the pitch. This resulted in an incredible 3200% increase in the number of people – mainly children - getting tested compared to a normal day in a clinic. This was something the local nurses put down to reducing the stigma around testing.
There is now less than two weeks to go until the first CWB trip of 2013 heads out to Africa.
And having overcome late January's wintry weather, all 26 new volunteers showed they are more than ready for the adventure ahead during a fantastic training weekend at Finham Park School in Coventry.
Rwanda 2012 volunteer Jules Farman reflects on her trip a few months on and the impact it has back in England. A truly great volunteer story and we are very proud to have her on board!
'It was on the final morning when Team CWB Rwanda 2012 said goodbye to the two main coaches, Eric and Ange, from the Rwanda Cricket Association. We had been working with them throughout our time there in Rwanda and they were going off to do further coaching that afternoon and it then hit me what a fantastic experience it had been. During the two weeks out there, we were getting up early, travelling around the country, coaching all day and spending the evenings planning for the next day over some massive Mutzigs. We didn’t really get the opportunity to take in what had happened. It was only really on the plane journey back we all got the chance to reflect.
First time CWB volunteer Annabel Kibble talks about how she made the most of her volunteering days from the Body Shop to volunteer on the first CWB trip to Cameroon.
'In November, I used my Volunteering Days to travel out to Cameroon in Africa on a two week project with amazing HIV/Aids Charity Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB).
CWB are very saddened to hear news of the death of Peter Jamieson in December. Peter's father David is a CWB Alumni, having travelled to Kenya on a project in Spring 2012.
Peter's very unexpected and sudden death have left his family and friends heartbroken, but as testament to his memory the family have set up a memorial fund of which CWB will be the beneficiary.
It was a hectic festive period for CWB as we featured on BBC's Five Live and breakfast shows, thanks to Midlands journalist, Phil Mackie. If you missed the pieces, here is a recap of the media coverage we have enjoyed in winter 2012.
The idea was conceived a while ago by Phil, as he saw an opportunity to delve deeper into the charity and also highlight the work in Rwanda and Kenya. The end result was fantastic reflecting the hard work that had been put into the charity but also the effectiveness of the message that our volunteers are always looking to put across.
As 2012 draws to an end and our thoughts all turn to the Christmas break it is as good a time as ever to reflect on what CWB has been able to achieve since our last newsletter in August.
As you all know we are a small volunteer run charity motivated by a simple desire to use and develop a game we love in a part of the world that is devastated by HIV/AIDS. For us it is about putting as many smiles on the faces of as many children as we can and giving them all simple AIDS awareness messages at the same time.
As 2012 draws to an end, we take a look back at an incredible year for CWB, which has seen a record number of trips, a new country and HIV/AIDS testing for the first time at a cricket tournament.
Re-live the year through our diary of the season.
CWB's role in the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS was highlighted across the cricket media in a number of articles published to coincide with World Aid Day on December 1.
Focusing on the experiences of England Women's player and CWB volunteer Holly Colvin, the stories written by Luke Sellers appeared in The Times, ESPN CricInfo, The Cricketer website and a number of other places, shedding light on the seriousness of the epidemic and the difference the charity is making in Africa.
Due to the amazing range of photos from the 2012 projects (such as the one above from North Uganda!), we are asking you to choose the Cricket Without Boundaries entry to the Cricket Photograph of the Year Competition!
Photography is a key part of all trips and many magical, heartbreaking or inspiring moments are captured in photos to be shared across the globe.
One of Cricket Without Boundaries major success stories, the Maasai Cricket Warriors are to be the subject of a fantastic documentary, directed by Barney Douglas (Swanny's diaries) and with the help of executive producer Jimmy Anderson.
The film illustrates the importance of cricket as a vehicle for social cause as the Maasai cricketers have embraced the CWB messages of ABC and made them their own. For example, the bat is their spear in the fight against HIV, using the spear to protect themselves like protecting your wicket with their bat.
As the World reflects on 1 December on the continuing fight against the modern plague that is HIV/AIDS, CWB has been promoting the work it has been doing in helping raise awareness about the disease.
359 Ware Road,
Hertford, SG13 7EL
UK registered charity 1154576