THE OLIVER GOBAT SPORTS FUND

Ollie Gobat was tragically murdered in Saint Lucia on 25th April 2014, at the age of 38. He was born in Saint Lucia, and loved the country of his birth. He was training to represent Saint Lucia at squash in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow when he died.

Sport was Ollie’s great passion: whichever sport he chose to play he gave it his all and excelled. Every day, wherever he was in the world, he felt it imperative to exercise and as a result he kept extremely fit. At the age of 13, Ollie was diagnosed with bone cancer, and spent a year in treatment, in and out of hospital 17 times, and he conquered the disease. The week he was diagnosed, he played in 2 school cricket matches, an athletics competition, a swimming meet, and had a trial for Surrey Cricket – all with a painful swelling in his chest. That shows his dedication to sport. He began playing golf during that year, the only sport he could really manage, and shared a round with Nick Faldo, the 1990 British Open winner.

Ollie would want to encourage other young people to have the opportunity to pursue and achieve their sporting goals. As a family, we want to remember him in this way, and to make it as easy as possible to meet these needs, by setting up a charity to be called: The Oliver Gobat Sports Fund (TOGS fund). Fund raising events will be held in Saint Lucia and elsewhere – our first golf event in May in the UK was very successful.

Criteria for sponsorship will be that the young person should be a Saint Lucian national, and ideally under the age of 21, although all requests will be carefully considered, whether for travel to events, sporting equipment, or coaching. We would not want to duplicate what is already being funded by sports associations or by government.

For those who would like to support this charity, we will be offering an annual membership/sponsorship of US$20, and of course would keep you updated through our website.