Photo Credit: Lions Cricket
Lions Cricket has long since used cricket as a vehicle to drive inclusive and sustainable economic, social and environmentally friendly change. The Union takes great pride in identifying meaningful opportunities, especially those that promote nutritional support that would help grow and develop the Lions pipeline, ensuring that promising players thrive and reach their full potential.
With this in mind, Lions Cricket CEO Jono Leaf-Wright announced on Friday 28 October 2022, the launch of the Hungry Heart Nutrition Programme in partnership with Synergy Transformation Solutions, Bavuke Foundation, F2F Food Company and Kera Kreate.
The Hungry Heart Nutrition Programme provides nutritional support and education to aid young and upcoming sports individuals from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. The programme is aligned to the World Health Organization’s belief that nutrition plays a critical part in health and development and that healthy children learn and perform better.
The Hungry Heart Nutrition Programme will provide the following support to youth cricketers across the Lions Cricket ecosystem:
- Healthy and nutritious meals on match days
- Food hampers and dignity packs
- Knowledge sharing nutritional workshops
- Primary health care screenings that include nutritional assessments
Jono Leaf-Wright elaborates on the partnership;
“We have targeted 10 clubs and 250 young cricketers from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds who are affiliated to Lions Cricket. Following this, our Union hosted a welcome session at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, with the club Chairs and Coaches outlining the processes and procedures of the programme. The interactive session was extremely insightful, well-received and we believe is a genuine way to make a difference to some very special cricketers who now can compete on an equal playing ground. This is just another way Lions Cricket is striving to level the playing fields.”
Jerann Naidu – Synergy Transformation Solutions and Farm to Fork Food Company says that food security remains a major issue in South Africa;
“We simply cannot expect our athletes to perform at the highest level without adequate nutritional support. At Synergy, we are passionate about our people and our country, and are proud to be associated with CGL. We believe that we have a duty to cultivate the youth that will lead our future generations. Through the provision of meals, and the guidance on nutrition, we will provide our youth with an equal footing to compete and excel amongst their peers. Nutrition is just the start, as we embark on this journey, we will address other primary challenges impacting on our youth, some of these include educational and equipment support. Creating an ecosystem of excellence is essential to ensure that our pipeline of future cricketers is underpinned by key tenets that allow them to compete on the global stage. We look forward to the journey ahead.”
Marishka Pillay says that the Bavuke Foundation is extremely proud to join hands with their partners to set up the Hungry Heart Nutrition Programme;
“We are passionate about making a positive impact in our communities and building strong partnerships to bring our vision and mission to life where we want to make a difference, empower and bring like-minded people and organisations together to tackle the most daunting of issues. We look forward to an amazing partnership and to more outreach programs that will mark a positive footprint in our societies.”
Kera Kreate has a passion for youth development so says Keratile Pekane;
“We are proud to be part of the Hungry Heart Nutrition Programme, as a transformation partner of Lions Cricket. South Africa faces a major food security issue, and through this Programme we aim to support our young, disadvantaged cricketers, and give them a fair advantage to compete and excel in their games.”
The collaborative teamwork, committed role-players and desire to make a genuine difference is the powerful set of ingredients that will aid the chosen players to thrive from this day forward. With many of their off-field needs catered for, tomorrow’s superstars will have the freedom to fully express their talent with bat and ball in hand, courtesy of proud and passionate South Africans who truly want to empower our future heroes.
For those wanting to know more about the programme or how to get involved, please feel free to contact us telephonically or via email.
Email: hungryheart@bavukefoundation.co.za
Contact number: 011 656 0646
