A Shropshire cricket coach has been recognised for his voluntary work with disabled county youngsters after being invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Graham Furber and his wife Pam Furber, of Bomere Heath, near Shrewsbury, met members of the Royal Family at a reception in London last week.
The event was held to recognise recipients of the Queen’s Award for voluntary service over the past five years.
Mr Furber, whose son Richard is severely disabled, represented The Cricket Federation for People with Disabilities.
The organisation received the award in 2005.
Mr Furber, 59, coaches the England disabled cricket team which is run under the auspices of CFPD, a national organisation based in Gobowen, near Oswestry.
He said last Tuesday’s reception had been a great experience.
“There were about 300 people present, although only about 100 of those were Queen’s Award winners and we all got to meet her,” said Mr Furber.
“We met the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent and Duke and Duchess of Gloucester as well as the Princess Royal who was particularly interested in disabled sport.”
Mr Furber said the disabled cricket movement started in Shropshire in 1989 before the CFPD was set up by Dick and Fred Wildgoose in Gobowen.
Mrs Furber said Richard played disabled cricket until his spina bifida prevented him from doing so.
The couple’s other son Chris is the national coach of the Great British paralympic cycling team and will soon head to Beijing, China, for the Paralympic Games.
One Comment
Congratulations to Graham Furber. My grandson has Cerebral Palsey and is involved with several adaptive sports, skiing, floor hockey, socker and baseball. My son coaches the adaptive skiing.
We live in the U.S.
Felicity Furber