OUR ORGANISATION
Bat For A Chance is a charitable initiative set up by Will Gaffney. It aims to help underprivileged children experience the joy of cricket. We collect and source clothing and equipment, both new and high-quality second hand, for dispatch to schools, clubs and academies all around the world.
To help, you can donate your unused or second-hand cricket clothing and equipment via your school or local club.
Meet The Team
Will Gaffney
Will Gaffney
Will, our founder, is a keen grassroots and village cricketer who has also played at higher levels, including on tours to Sri Lanka. It was here Will saw first–hand the enormous impact that cricket can have on the lives of those less fortunate than him. This resulted in Will, then aged only 15, founding Bat for a Chance, a young and exciting cricket charity which provides kit to underprivileged players all across the world, and helps to grow the game of cricket. Will has made it his mission to bring smiles to adults and children around the globe, offering opportunities to play and love the wonderful game of cricket. Will has connected with cricketers in Uganda, the UK, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and thousands of Afghan refugees across Europe. Outside of Will’s charity work he is a student studying his A levels “in his spare time”. Will loves his rugby, as well as his cricket – and he is an inspiration to all those involved in the charity.
Omar Khan
Omar Khan
Omar is one of the UK’s foremost sports’ marketers and a leading agent for rightsholders, with a particular emphasis on cricket and rugby. He is
an MCC member and supports Charlton Athletic. Omar has a network of clients and partners in the USA, the West Indies, Europe, India and Asia and has been a successful bridge between commercial organisations and sports teams and players seeking to secure significant revenue streams from sponsorship. Omar has previously worked with leading charities “The British Asian Trust” and “Chance to Shine” and has adopted Bat for a Chance because he believes cricket is a great way of bringing people together across continents and class and is busy connecting the charity with both income streams and on–the–ground projects across the world from his network of clients and partners. Omar will be leading the Board of Trustees as the charity continues to grow.
Ebba Qureshi
Ebba Qureshi
Ebba is a serial social entrepreneur and women’s rights campaigner, who heads–up “FemGames”, a specialist girls empowerment and education initiative, delivered through a sports’ curriculum, aimed at enhancing the life–chances of young women in Pakistan. Ebba also heads–up “The Women’s Walkathon”. Well–networked with the British–Pakistani and British–Asian community through the British Pakistan Foundation, Ebba was a nominee for Pakistan Power 100 list of most influential people. She is married to the former bowling coach of the Pakistan national team, and former Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood. Ebba loves her cricket.
Sabah Hamed
Sabah Hamed
Sabah has worked within a number of industries whilst living–out a passion for making a positive difference to others through sport and physical activity. Sabah spent twelve years building a brand in the health and fitness industry, particularly focused on empowering women, opening–up opportunities through cricket and fitness. Over the last year, whilst based in London, Sabah has engaged with over 1,500 people across all walks of life, helping them find their place in the game. Sabah is thoroughly excited about being a part of Bat for a Chance, bringing together both her passion and motivation for making a difference. Sabah is excited to join as a trustee of the charity.
Shiv Haria-Shah
Shiv Haria-Shah
Shiv is a Barrister and trusted advisor to some of the world’s most successful and well–known companies and their leaders in relation to investigations, governance and compliance and regulatory defence. His practice spans both civil and criminal work and most of his work is international in nature. He was elected to the Bar Council in 2016 and has acted as mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation for over five years. He served as a governor of an OFSTED “outstanding” rated Infant and Junior school and currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair. He was a founding board member of an organisation which seeks to improve ties between the UK and India and prior to his career at the Bar, he sat as a magistrate and worked for a former member of the Cabinet. He played cricket for the University of Cambridge and is a life–member of the MCC. He took the Parliamentary Cricket Team to India in 2012, played in the inaugural “Cricket Builds Hope” Tournament in Rwanda and in in two Lawyers’ Cricket World Cup tournaments.
Gordon Lee
Gordon Lee
Gordon is a Barrister specialising in Public Law, Immigration and Asylum, Civil Liberties and Human Rights, having worked on many landmark Public Law cases, including before the Supreme Court. Instructed by a wide variety of Claimants challenging public bodies and Government Departments, with a particular interest in judicial reviews of alleged unlawful detention and higher court appeals. When it comes to cricket Gordon has always had a passion for the game and has represented England in the Lawyers Cricket World Cup on multiple occasions. This enabled him to travel to many cricket–loving countries including Sri Lanka, Australia, Pakistan and India. He has also played in Rwanda where cricket is slowly but surely on the rise following the opening of the National Cricket Stadium in Kigali, allowing Gordon to witness first–hand how cricket can change lives.
Nicky Gaffney
Nicky Gaffney
Mum to Will, Nicky helps him with the day to day running of the charity. She is a consultant Solicitor, and has worked in City firms and as in–house counsel. Her areas of experience include acquisitions, property finance and development, employment, commercial contracts, and general corporate issues. Her clients have been from across sectors – government, finance, retail, leisure, logistics, energy, commercial property, and construction. As a Head of Legal, Nicky set up and ran the European legal department, head–quartered in the UK, of an international conglomerate, overseeing high value international acquisitions, disposals and property re–developments. Nicky is a qualified parent support worker and has founded a successful floristry business which remains a creative outlet. She is a school Governor and thanks to Will & his brother’s passion for cricket has developed a love for (watching) the game.
Adrian Yalland
Adrian Yalland
Adrian is a member of the Bar of England and Wales and a member of the Honorable Society of Middle Temple and works as General Counsel in an international and offshore practice advising and representing clients across the EEA, Bermuda, Singapore and Hong Kong. Prior to his legal career he worked on public policy in London and Brussels. He has significant experience in international development – he established an enterprise helping tourists use short breaks to fund and volunteer–on international development projects and in 2007 devised and managed a development trip for 40 MPs (including David Cameron) to Rwanda. Whilst working there, Adrian helped to establish a Cricket Academy on an old minefield in Kigali awhich led to the “Cricket Builds Hope” project which later
funded and built the National Cricket Stadium. Adrian has worked in similar development projects in India and Sri Lanka. He has been forced to retire from playing competitive cricket and rugby through injury but has a continued passion for both sports supporting Exeter Chiefs and Surrey CCC.
Stephen Lark
Stephen Lark
Stephen has 33 years’ experience in general insurance and employee benefits, and is currently Non– Exec Chair of a group UK companies. Outside of work, Stephen has a great interest in cricket – both as a player and a fan – following Kent and England – and is a member of a number of cricket clubs as a supporter and player. Stephen is keen to help Bat for a Chance enable others to enjoy the great game and to use his professional experience to mentor and guide the charity on its next phase of growth. Stephen lives in Kent, where he is active in a number of local issues and activities. Stephen is a member of the MCC.
Carl Brown
Carl Brown
Carl is a Chartered Accountant having spent the last 20 plus years working in the insurance broking and employee benefits sector as a director of a number of companies within the Group. Having stepped down from an Executive position to pursue other interests, Carl is delighted to have recently been appointed Treasurer and Trustee of Bat for a Chance enabling him to combine his passion of cricket with assisting the charity in its development and objectives.
Having loved cricket since an early age, Carl has played at all stages in life from school, university, wandering sides, club cricket in the Surrey Championship and overseas in Hong Kong. Having also been fortunate to tour several countries including Kenya, Malaysia, Dubai and India, Carl has seen first-hand the joy and difference that cricket makes to young people’s lives and is looking forward to helping make a real difference in providing access to cricket to those without the same opportunities.
Outside of cricket, Carl enjoys golf and travel.
Will Atkinson
Will Atkinson has known Will G since birth, having been a close family friend for many years. The peak of his cricketing career came with selection for both his school and university Barbados cricket tours, as 12th man in charge of sun cream and swimming towels. Since that high point, his cricket career has moved to the village squares of Somerset and Devon, the Lord Ian Botham stand at Taunton and the Upper Edrich at Lords. Having worked as a lawyer in London and Hong Kong, he moved to the West Country to establish a farm and cheese business with his wife. He now teaches at Exeter University, while scribbling bits and pieces of copy and continuing to plan his magnum opus. Mid-life hobbies now include encouraging his daughter to play cricket and golf; crossing the Exe estuary to the Turf pub as often as possible; and reactivating a dormant gardening gene (how much pride can one man have in a small courtyard garden?). However, the most exciting thing that has happened to him in years is being asked to write the BFAC’s blog…
Carl Brown
Carl is a Chartered Accountant having spent the last 20 plus years working in the insurance broking and employee benefits sector as a director of a number of companies within the Group. Having stepped down from an Executive position to pursue other interests, Carl is delighted to have recently been appointed Treasurer and Trustee of Bat for a Chance enabling him to combine his passion of cricket with assisting the charity in its development and objectives.
Having loved cricket since an early age, Carl has played at all stages in life from school, university, wandering sides, club cricket in the Surrey Championship and overseas in Hong Kong. Having also been fortunate to tour several countries including Kenya, Malaysia, Dubai and India, Carl has seen first-hand the joy and difference that cricket makes to young people’s lives and is looking forward to helping make a real difference in providing access to cricket to those without the same opportunities.
Outside of cricket, Carl enjoys golf and travel.