Thank you for some lovely ways to remember Huw at the Upperthong Gala

It was the Upperthong Gala this weekend.  Huw went to the Gala nearly every weekend over 15 years.  From a toddler rushing round playing with his friends and a ball to a 15 year old last year – still running round with his friends and playing cricket or football but a bigger version of the same Huw…………and paying a bit more attention to the girls 🙂  This weekend saw a fund raising cricket competition on Saturday and sales of  the Huw T shirts on both days………..

The family cricket challenge was a lot of fun.  It was lovely to see some familiar faces – Huw’s friends and some of the younger children who loved it when he used to swing them round and show them his football skills.  It was also lovely to see some less familiar faces from the cricket clubs around the valley who had come along to take part in this fund raising event. 

It would be fair to describe the cricket conditions on Saturday as ‘damp’ but to the credit of everyone, all the cricket was played and completed – the annual under 9s competition on Saturday morning and the Huw Trust / Cricket Club joint fund raiser on Saturday afternoon.

Nick joined the Upperthong Team in the cricket challenge, and while they didnt win, they made a good showing with a win, a lose and a draw in their mini matches.  The fundraiser competition winners were: the Team Skills Challenge – Meltham; the Individual Skills Challenge – Ed Clowes; and the main Cricket Competition – Holmfirth.

The raffle was well supported with fantastic prizes including a signed bat from Freddie Flintoff.   Carys drew the raffle and with her friends (Grace, Sophie and Amy) looked after the T shirt and book stall.  It was lovely to see Huw’s friends and the younger children in their Huw T shirts.  In the evening the Gala talent competition featured Amie and Celine singing a song for Huw which they did beautifully.  The family cricket event made around £2,200 to be split between the Trust and the Cricket Club, and we sold around 25 T shirts too.

It was a beautiful hot day on Sunday and the Gala was a roaring success on that day as well, including an evocative  fly past from 2 Spitfires – a moment to send a shiver down your spine.  If it wasn’t for the Spitfires and the brave pilots who lost their lives in them 70 years ago, we probably wouldn’t have been standing up on the top of the hill at that beautiful cricket ground this weekend.

A big thank you to Rob Oakley and his family for a great Trust fund raiser on Saturday and also to the participants, raffle prize donations, ‘Sooty’ at the cricket club, Brendan for the programmes and everyone who sold and bought raffle tickets or came along to the event.

It was a lovely way to remember Huw – a family day could not have been more appropriate.  A family day with mums, dads, brothers and sisters having fun and with a number of Huw’s friends with whom he started school at Upperthong 11 years ago.  So it was a day with both sad moments and smiles. 

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