Zimbabwe Head Coach Dave Houghton is set to embark on a 50km charity walk after joining forces with former international cricketer Brendan Taylor in a bid to raise US$250 000 towards the establishment of an affordable drug rehabilitation facility.
Dubbed ‘The Big Walk’, the fundraising event will take place this Saturday at Borrowdale Racecourse in Harare.
In 1998, Houghton walked from Bulawayo to Harare and managed to raise US$40 000 towards the setting up of a national cricket academy.
This time round he is focusing on the establishment of a rehabilitation facility to help recovering drug addicts.
A fortnight ago, Taylor, the former Zimbabwe captain who is serving a three-and-half year ban from all forms of cricket after he was found to have breached the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption and anti-doping codes, did a 50km ‘walk for recovery’ as part of this fundraising campaign.
Zimbabwe is battling drug and substance abuse among the youth, with cannabis, crystal methamphetamine and unprescribed cocaine being among the most commonly abused drugs.
However, a lack of support systems such as affordable rehabilitation centres makes recovery difficult for many abusers.
This prompted Houghton to join forces with Taylor to raise funds through charity in an effort to establish a centre that can offer rehabilitation to all –ZimCricket.