The below article is paraphrased from an interview with Natasha Mansigiani, founder of the Big Hug Foundation, on Vodafone’s World of Difference website.
“Over the last month Team Big Hug has had their very own Olympic style events,” says Natasha. “They may not be official Olympic events but we had a great time organising, participating and of course fundraising for all of them!”
Raising money with cricket
“Our eventful summer kicked off with the Prideview Cricketers’ Cup. The Prideview Group had very generously chosen Big Hug as their charity to support this year! After postponing the first tournament due to the awful British weather we had set the date to Saturday 21st July (one day before Big Hug’s annual footie tournament). As you can imagine, the Friday before was pretty hectic for me; there was a lot of running around preparing for both sports events!”
“The day ran very smoothly,” Natasha explains in her blog. “All in all, the inaugural Prideview Cricketers’ Cup was a massive success. The event raised over £3,500 for the charity and for me was one of the most memorable days of the summer.”
“I had a great time working with the organisers from Prideview and Hilton Eyewear and can’t thank them enough for their dedication and organisation of such a fantastic event.”
Members of Big Hug Foundation, The Prideview Group and Hilton Eyewear at the presentation
The £3,500 will make a massive difference to the Big hug Foundation, covering the schooling expenses of 33 children in an orphanage in Coimbatore. Any money left over will go towards the construction of a new orphanage.
As with most other charities, however, fundraising is a constant battle, and Natasha explains: “We are currently working towards building a permanent home for children we support, on land that has been donated to our partner project in India. Our upcoming goals include constructing this home to offer cover for more street children from troubled backgrounds.”
For more information about the Big Hug Foundation, visit their website www.bighugfoundation.org
