Dubai: Greg Chappell, legendary Australian batsman and coaching guru, has many fascinating memories of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from his glittering career. An unique chapter, however, will be added to it when on August 5, he will be sleeping overnight on the turf along with several other leading Australian sports personalities to draw public attention to the country’s homelessness problem among the youth.
Organised by The Chappell Foundation (TCF), the event will be called ‘Sports Stars Sleepout’ and aim to raise funds for the cause. Latest estimates, according to Chappell, suggest that over 40 per cent of that country’s homeless are under 25 years of age.
“For sure, it will be a wintry night. It might even rain ... but it would be nothing in comparison to the privation that thousands of homeless Australians endure every day and night,” the 69-year-old says in a Facebook post. Chappell says more names of the participants to join him at the sleepover will be unveiled on his website over the next two weeks.
Replying to a query from Gulf News on his charity endeavours in the past, Chappell said: “I have been involved in a variety of charities since the 1970s including the Leukaemia Foundation, The Blind Cricket, Grassroots Cricket, Stand Tall for Post Traumatic Stress Orders among others, but this is the first one in the name of the Chappell Foundation.”
For those interested in donation, long onto https://sportsstarssleepout.raisely.com/gregchappell
