22nd August 2014
| Mallory Gray
A 1,000-mile walk around the ‘Boundary of Wales’ reaches the
finish-line this weekend, when Stephen Hedges arrives at Mumbles Cricket Club
after an epic fund-raising trek.
Stephen has been walking the ‘Boundary of Wales’ in memory
of his late father, former Glamorgan cricket star Bernard Hedges, who died
earlier this year.
The walk will end at Mumbles CC on Sunday afternoon (August
24) – 50 days after it started, and will have raised thousands of pounds to
give more children access to cricket in Wales.
By the time he sits down for afternoon tea at the annual
club hog roast on Sunday, Stephen will have walked 1,050 miles and climbed a
height equivalent to four Everests.
Among those expected to welcome him are family members,
friends, and former Glamorgan players, as well as young players from Mumbles
CC, who helped launch the walk in early July, and who
will receive free tickets to next week’s
England vs India international in Cardiff, donated by Glamorgan County Cricket
Club.
The walk is in aid of the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to
Shine programme, which enables children in state schools in Wales to play
cricket, through the work of Cricket Wales. It is still accepting donations.
“This has been an absolutely fantastic achievement,” said
Peter Hybart, chief executive of Cricket Wales. “Stephen’s commitment has been
incredible, and the money he has raised will make a real difference in
providing opportunities for young people to take part in the game his father
loved so much.
“The Chance to Shine programme is doing great work in giving
more state pupils access to cricket, and further funds will enable us to
involve even more children.”
Bernard Hedges was one of the great Glamorgan batsmen, with
a dazzling career which stretched from 1950-68. He amassed nearly 18,000 runs
in that time and remains seventh on the all-time run-scorers list for the
county.
Born in Pontypridd in 1927, Bernard Hedges was an all-round
sportsman, who also played rugby for Pontypridd and Swansea. After his playing days, he retired to
Mumbles, where his widow Jean still resides.
"Whenever I was with Dad we seemed to bump into people who
could remember his playing days,” said Stephen. “It reminded me how important
sport is to us in Wales and what a great all round sportsman my Dad was. The spirit in which he played was the way he
lived his life; honestly, fairly and with humility.
“The way he met his death from bowel
cancer was the way he lived his life. Quietly, with bravery and dignity,” he added. “Such a life deserved to be remembered in
some way.”
Donations to the Boundary of Wales walk can be made at
www.justgiving.com/theboundaryofwales