Street children from Dhaka to play cricket in London

Eight street children from Dhaka have flown to London to take part in the first ever Street Child Cricket World Cup representing Bangladesh.

A special reception to welcome the street children’s cricket team from Bangladesh, comprising of four girls and four boys, was held on Monday, April 29, organised by Canary Wharf Group and the UK-based charity ‘Friends of Street Children Bangladesh’.

London will host the inaugural match of the Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019 on May 3. A total of 10 teams, including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, Mauritius and Nepal, among others, are participating in the six-a-side competition.

The final will be held at the Lord’s.

Apart from competing in the games, the Bangladeshi children’s team will participate in the International Congress and Art Festival. They will also attend a dinner hosted by British Parliamentarians and will play a friendly match with the House of Commons team.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh, who organised the reception, is a UK-based charity promoting health and relief of children and young people living in or connected with the streets of Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh.

The charity supports the works of Local Education and Economic Development Organisation (LEEDO) to reach children abandoned on the streets and to provide them with counseling and residential facilities to meet their needs.

LEEDO is a Dhaka-based non-profit, voluntary development organisation founded in 2000, aiming to improve the scopes for children who are forced to live in extreme difficulties on the streets and also to address the needs of the growing number of vulnerable street children in Bangladesh.

The reception ended with a cultural programme performed by the children with speeches from the guests including Mike Sheriff, chairperson of Friends of Street Children, Forhad Hossain, executive director of LEEDO, former English cricketer Monty Panesar and Canary Wharf’s Howard Dawber.

The speakers at the event also covered updates on the tournament and the trustee’s recent visit to Bangladesh.