The 16 students and accompanying parents and teachers spent two weeks in March and April touring the country playing against local teams in Kandy, Daumbulla and Seenigama as part of an annual sport tour organised by the school’s Head of Cricket Steve Dunn.

‘Each year the major sports, cricket, rugby and soccer…undertake a tour and this year, it was the turn of cricket,’ he explained.

‘We had a fantastic tour and everyone is still buzzing.’

The school has supported projects in Sri Lanka since 2004, facilitated by esteemed cricket journalist David Hopps. Mr Hopps also established the link with the Foundation of Goodness through Red Dot Tours, his tour operating company which organised the Sri Lanka visit.

Over the past three years the school has raised funds for indoor cricket nets at Vidyaloka College in Galle and Madampe Central School which were opened during the tour, and have also donated much needed cricket equipment to the Foundation of Goodness.

Mr Dunn said that the tour inspired students to raise yet more funds for community sports initiatives and housing in the Seenigama region, and he is developing a program of fundraising events to be held over the next twelve months.

‘The program includes initiatives such as a sponsored walk by 120 boys, a music concert, sales of a DVD of the tour and various individual challenges’ he said.

Leeds Grammar School was founded in 1552 and has recently joined with Leeds Girls High School to form a new school, The Grammar School at Leeds. This new school will be sited on the boys’ campus at Alwoodley Gates in north Leeds and will comprise 1600 students aged 5-18. For more information please visit their website.