Capital Kids Cricket, its supporters and partners have expressed their delighted that their Chief Executive Officer, Shahidul Alam Ratan, has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London in a ceremony at Guildhall.

Ratan was nominated to for the Freedom of City of London by Oliver Sells QC, Chair of the West Ham Park Committee, for his services to cricket development across London and his work engaging families in and around West Ham Park, which has made big differences to local communities.

Mentoring coaches and showing young people how to find a way forward is one of the key successes of Capital Kids Cricket, and Ratan has played a key part in this work since he joined CKC in 2008. CKC has also undertaken life-changing initiatives with refugee projects in London and with Syrian refugees alongside Alsama in Lebanon. 

Haydn Turner, Chair of Capital Kids Cricket, marked the occasion by saying, “I congratulate Ratan on his well-deserved award of becoming a freeman of the City of London. Since joining Capital Kids Cricket Ratan has made an enormous contribution to the lives and families of children in London. All parts of the community have benefited from his hard and dedicated work.”

Scyld Berry, renown cricket writer and former editor of Wisden, said, “Ratan is one of cricket’s great enthusiasts and was obviously a pretty fine player himself. More than that, his keenness to enable everyone to play cricket – and do well in life – is born of generosity of spirit.”

Ratan thanked the City of London Corporation for the recognition and said, “I would like to thank West Ham Park management over the years for their support and co-operation. I must mention support that I received from Middlesex Cricket, Essex Cricket, Surrey Cricket, many local leagues, clubs and organisers over a decade. Without the support and contributions of the hard-working staff at Capital Kids Cricket and volunteers, I would not have been able to gain this recognition. I am grateful to them all. My family is always supportive and is the backbone of my success.” 

The Freedom of the City of London is awarded to people who have achieved success, recognition or celebrity in their chosen field. The Honorary Freedom of the City of London is a recognition of lifetime achievement or high international standing and is much rarer than the broader Freedom of the City.

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