Not a sport for softies: Chichester Falcons pit themselves against zombies and vampires to raise over £700 for our work!

Once again, the Chichester Falcons Softball Club pulled out the stops and organised a hugely successful Softball Tournament which was held on the 19th April 2014. The second annual Chichester Softball Tournament hosted six teams from across the South, all competing for the tournament cup and helping to raise over £700 for Children on the Edge.

Held at Chichester University and hosted by Chichester Falcons Softball Club, the tournament was significantly upsized this year and featured music, a raffle, a professional photographer, hot food and softball equipment for sale.

The six teams – Brighton Beachcombers, Solent Sluggers, Vampire Batters, Chichester Falcons, Portsmouth Zombies and Southampton Spitfires – played through a round-robin style system and were then each placed into the cup, plate and spoon finals respectively.

Spitfires overcame their local rivals Zombies to take the spoon trophy, while Sluggers managed to take the plate from Beachcombers.  The cup final was a fast-paced dramatic ballgame as hosts Chichester Falcons were pitted against Vampire Batters, in an attempt to reverse their drubbing from earlier in the day.  However the Vampires’ quality showed through and they just managed to whip the cup away from the Falcons’ talons by two runs.

Children on the Edge want to thank David Morris and his Chichester Falcons Softball team for their enthusiasm, time and effort that went into making this year’s tournament so brilliant.

The money they raised will go a long way towards making the work of Children on the Edge possible. Our project in Bangladesh works with Rohingya refugee children from Arakan State Burma, who are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced by government oppression and violence. Many flee to Bangladesh; bringing with them accounts of forced labour, rape and torture, only to be snubbed, abused and denied any form of citizenship.

In sprawling makeshift camps along the border, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we have been able set up 90 ‘low profile’ classrooms for 2,700 of these Rohingya children to enable them to access primary education. Without this unique programme there is a risk that an entire generation of Rohingya children will grow up completely unable to read or write.

Find out more about our work with forgotten children around the world, and anyone who wants to try softball and join the Falcons should email chichesterfalcons@gmail.com or visit www.chichesterfalcons.com

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