MILDENHALL Cricket Club raised around �5,000 for St Nicholas Hospice Care in Bury St Edmunds from Monday’s Memorial Four Team Tournament.

The tournament was arranged following the deaths of club members Beryl Squire and Rick Handy, who both spent their last days being comforted in the hospice before passing away earlier this year.

Beryl, who was 77, was a long-serving committee member, while Rick who was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, lost his battle against the disease aged just 44.

The tournament at Mildenhall’s Wamil Way ground brought together teams selected by families and captained by former Suffolk batsman and Beryl’s son Andy Squire and Rick’s brother Ian Handy, plus also teams made up of past and present Mildenhall players. Sadly, the cricket was curtailed after prolonged rain just before 4pm.

However, the weather did not deter hundreds of people visiting the club and contributing to an assortment of fund-raising activities including a tea and cake stall, bacon and egg rolls, a tombola run by the children of the club, barbecues, curries, a ground draw and finally an auction.

Former Mildenhall captain Mark Feltham summed up the day when he said: “It’s not what you get out of today, it’s what you put in that counts.”

Players, members and friends of the club and families certainly took this to heart as the day raised approximately �5,000 for St Nicholas Hospice Care.

Mildenhall president Tony Cornell said both the families and Mildenhall Cricket Club would like to thank everybody who gave so much to the day.

“I found it extraordinary how in the current financial climate so many people gave so much. It will be a wonderful memorial to Beryl and Rick,” he added.