The Primary Club is a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

based in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England which raises money to provide sports and recreational facilities for the

visually impaired Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

. It was started in 1955 at Beckenham Cricket Club in Kent by four slightly inebriated young bachelors, depressed by their own performance with the bat. They were Mike Sheeres, Ralph Lilly, and brothers Keith Patterson & Norman Patterson. They vowed to support F R Brown's Fund for Blind Cricketers. Membership was initially limited to those out first ball in matches for or against Beckenham. In its first nine years, the Club raised £45. Membership of The Primary Club is open to anyone who has been out first

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but sometimes ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for s ...

in any form or level of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

(a "golden duck"). The joining fee includes a tie which by tradition is worn on the Saturday of a Test match. Female members optionally have a brooch. Currently its 10,000 members have donated £1,778,673 to the Club. The patron of The Primary Club is

Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad (born 24 June 1986) is an English former cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team and was One Day and Twenty20 International captain. Broad was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ...

who succeeded

Derek Underwood Derek Leslie Underwood (8 June 1945 – 15 April 2024) was an English international cricketer. In retirement he became president of the Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based s ...

, who held the role from 1997 until his death in April 2024. In 2004, The Primary Club made grants in excess of £180,000 to

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

s and

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s for the blind throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 1973, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...

'' team, in particular the late

Brian Johnston Brian Alexander Johnston (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until h ...

, started to talk about the Club on the

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and members were recruited from cricket-playing countries all over the world. In 1974, the Primary Club of Australia was founded by Australian cricket lovers. They have raised over A$5 million and donated it in the form of sporting and recreational facilities to charities which care for disabled people. The Primary Club of Australia's patron and 12th Man is Mark Taylor AO, while Jim Maxwell is the president.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Primary Club
– Official site
The Primary Club of Australia
– Official site Cricket culture Charities based in Essex Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom Sports culture in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links