David Wilson launches Leicestershire Young Cricketers Education Trust

Leicestershire's cricket stars of the future received a major boost today as Club President David Wilson officially launched a new trust fund to boost the development of the game.

The Leicestershire Young Cricketers Education Trust is being set up to provide vital funding for the Club’s youth development programme, but also provide more opportunities for youngsters to play the game throughout the
county.

David Wilson, through the David Wilson Foundation, has pledged his support to the work of Leicestershire’s Senior Coach Tim Boon and his backroom team by making a six-figure donation over the next three years from the Foundation which he founded.

The Leicestershire Young Cricketers Education Trust has two main objectives as it endeavours to boost many different aspects of cricket development. One of those aims is to provide a long-term foundation to fund the development of young cricketers in Leicestershire and, in particular, to assist more youth development at county level in a bid to nurture more home-grown talent.

Secondly, the Trust aims to provide more opportunities for an increasing number of young people from all backgrounds to play cricket at all levels within Leicestershire by forging closer links with town and village clubs. This
will enable those clubs to take advantage of the facilities which the Club is aiming to provide for that aspect of the game.

The new charitable Trust is designed to be tax efficient and David Wilson hopes that all cricket lovers will contribute to making the Trust not only a short-term success, but a feature of Leicestershire cricket for years to come.

“The production of young players is the key to this Club surviving and achieving sustained credibility as we look to the future. We must ensure that the structure being put in place by Tim Boon, which will be at the heart of all our ambitions, is properly funded and encouraged.

“We all share the vision of seeing a Leicestershire team with a backbone of home grown talent walking out on the field at Grace Road. This vision, of providing the initial opportunity and then to take the players through the various stages of development, is a large ambition but an ambition which I know will be welcomed as the right way forward."

David Wilson, founder benefactor of The David Wilson Foundation

“I sincerely hope that I shall be supported from every point of view by those interested in the long-term prospects for local and county cricket. This new charitable Trust really can make a difference. We have all shared in the excitement of seeing Stuart Broad progress to his Test debut. We want more Stuart Broads and we want more boys and girls to have had that initial opportunity without which we shall never know the extent of the prospective talent in our midst.”

“The success of the Leicestershire Young Cricketers Education Trust will be a crucial aspect of building for the future. It will help to provide essential facilities, specialist coaches and opportunities
for talented young players to experience conditions abroad. Through the Trust, Leicestershire has provided opportunities for a number of their young players to travel abroad to South Africa, India and Australia this winter, all of which helps their development as players and people."

Tim Boon, Senior Coach, Leicestershire Young Cricketers Education Trust