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Cricket Ireland and The Hope Foundation pad up for a solid partnership

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DUBLIN – The Hope Foundation has today been officially announced as the new charity partner of Cricket Ireland.
The Hope Foundation is the renowned Cork-based registered charity working with street and slum children in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. The organisation aims to free children and poor families from lives of pain, abuse, poverty and darkness. Primarily working with people living on the streets, including children who are forced to work from as young as five years of age to earn money for food and so cannot go to school, the organisation works to free them from child labour. The Foundation funds and operates over 60 projects.

In 2011, the Ireland Men’s cricket team signed on as Ambassadors for the charity and visited projects in the slums in Kolkata, where they played two matches during the World Cup that year. Furthering their cricket connections, the team from the charity have just returned from being co-participants in the inaugural Street Child Cricket World Cup in London.

Maureen Forrest, Founder of The Hope Foundation, said:

“We are incredibly proud to be chosen as the charity partner with Cricket Ireland for this coming year. The story of Cricket Ireland is an inspirational one. Their passion, determination and commitment are values shared by The Hope Foundation. We are very grateful for their support and solidarity, I am very much looking forward to working with their wonderful team.”

Ross McCollum, Chairman of Cricket Ireland said:

“The Hope Foundation, under Maureen’s leadership, undertakes remarkable work, and like the Irish cricket team have created a cultural and social link between Ireland and India. We are delighted to welcome The Hope Foundation as our official charity partner, and look forward to working with Maureen and her staff in the coming year.”

“Sport has the power to transform and empower people and communities, cutting across boundaries of class and geography. Likewise, the work of The Hope Foundation aims to raise communities out of difficult circumstances and we believe that together we can create an opportunity to use our respective resources to improve the lives of many.”