COEL vs Carter Jonas event bowls over the crowd 

Thursday 6th June 2024 saw our annual COEL vs Carter Jonas Charity Cricket Match take place at Fenner’s Cambridge University’s cricket ground. 

This much-anticipated event saw crowds of over 850 people join us, to enjoy an afternoon of sporting entertainment, Cricket legends and of course socialising.  

Held for the first time in 2023, the event originally raised £14000 for our chosen charities LandAid and The Phoenix Trust. Enjoying such success, the 2024 edition didn’t disappoint, and we have been overwhelmed by the contributions received for our charities from sponsors and attendees. 

This year’s total has surpassed £27,000 which will be split between both charities. 

The day’s events… 

There was a welcoming address from Tim Jones, Head of the Rural Division at Carter Jonas and Alistair Rumbelow, Group CEO from COEL. The crowd also heard from Paul Morrish, Chief Executive at LandAid, which looks to end youth homelessness and Neil Cook, Trustee at The Phoenix Trust, a Milton-based charity that aids people with learning disabilities to gain valuable skills and take an active role in running their garden centre. The Phoenix Trust team attended the cricket day in force, supplying and serving the cricket day and hosting a stall selling their wares. 

Legendary bowler and England team player Devon Malcolm was guest speaker and entertained the crowd with his anecdotes from the past, his thoughts on T20 and reflections on his unforgettable storming 9-57 victory against South Africa in 1994. Devon proved himself to be a good sport as to the delight of the organisers he brought along a bat to be auction off which had been signed by the masters of cricket including: Alex Tudor, Graham Thorpe, Ajmal Shahzad, Owasis Shah, Ali Brown, Simon Jones, James Kirtley, Geraint Jones, and others. 

The cricket game provided a thrill for the spectators as the teams played the rapid T20 format, donned in brightly coloured kit. COEL won the toss and sent Carter Jonas in to bat first. Carter Jonas posted a score of 121 in their allotted 20 overs. COEL chased down the score in the 15th over with a loss of only one wicket. We won by 9 wickets; this was a welcome victory for COEL as Carter Jonas had won the previous year. 

The event had a festival vibe with live singing, Cantab supplied food and drink, Brewboard brought their beer van, and Toni’s ice creams was also on site. The Gonville Hotel allowed the fun to continue as they hosted an afterparty in their garden. All the vendors are generously donating 10% of their turnover to the fundraising. 

With thanks to our Sponsors 

Companies from across Cambridgeshire were very keen to sponsor the event which resulted in close to 30 organisations supporting the event including: Ascot Lloyd, The Gonville Hotel, Howes Percival, City Stay Group, Hive Group, Ensors, Tees Law, First Intuition, Liquidline, KMD Wealth Management, Stantec, Barnes Construction, Green Building Design, BDB Pitmans, Grovemere Property, Cam Alarms, The Cambridge Building Society, Tom&Co, Duct Systems, Vizion Group of Companies, Cambridge Industrial Properties, Top Road, Howard Group, Excel Carpentry, Serpentine Estates LLP, and Hayfield Homes. Workplace Risk Management provided the first aid sponsorship. 

We can’t thank everyone enough for their support. 

On reflection of the day, Carter Jonas and COEL commented:

‘We are humbled by the incredible support we have received for our charity cricket day; so much work goes on behind the scenes to host the day and we would like to thank all who have contributed to the success of the event. 

Raising funds and awareness of LandAid and The Phoenix Trust has always been our priority, however, it is a joy, to host a community event which brings so many people together for an action-packed afternoon of sporting entertainment in the heart of Cambridge. We are looking forward to a rematch in 2025!’