A press conference was held at Cap Maison on Friday 27th November, 2015 in honour of Saint Lucian-born Oliver Gobat after whom a special memorial fund has been named. Gobat was murdered here on 25th April, 2014 at the age of 38.
Oliver Gobat’s family disclosed the nature of the fund, The Oliver Gobat Sports (TOGS) Fund, which will benefit young sportsmen and women in Saint Lucia.
Theo Gobat pointed out, “Ollie was born in Saint Lucia and loved the country of his birth. He was training to represent Saint Lucia in squash in the Commonwealth games in Glasgow just before he died. Sport was Ollie’s great passion. Whichever sport he chose to play he gave his all.”
The Gobat family say they 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’.
“Events to raise money for this fund will be held both in Saint Lucia and overseas. Our first golf event in May in the UK was very successful,” Theo Gobat stated.
Criteria for sponsorship will require the young applicant to be a Saint Lucian national and ideally below age 21 although all requests will be carefully considered, whether for travel to events, sporting equipment, or coaching.
When asked if there have been any new developments regarding the criminal investigation, Mr. Gobat responded with an emphatic “No.” He added: “That is really a question for the Saint Lucian police, I guess. I think it has been reported in the press that the British police are involved and they are talking with the Saint Lucian police about how they might progress in solving Ollie’s murder. We don’t believe that they have reached a very advanced stage yet, so we’re having to be very patient. Eighteen months later, we’re not too close to finding out who killed him,” Gobat said.
He told the news briefing that it appears to be quite a complicated crime, which is why the overseas team has been brought in. “But it’s too early to say whether it’s going to work or not. We have hopes. We shouldn’t exaggerate it by saying that we’re certain it can work. We hope that progress can be made in this,” he went on to say.
Olliver’s mother Helen Gobat also spoke, saying, “Obviously as a family we are very concerned to know what happened and why, and it’s been very painful and distressing . . . Eighteen months and we think in a small community like Saint Lucia there has got to be an answer! We have tremendous support from Saint Lucians. We’ve loved Saint Lucia; we have been investing in it personally with our efforts for the last forty-two years; helped build the tourism industry. There must be a way to solve it. We won’t give up!”
Mrs. Gobat said that the Home Secretary in England is right behind the family as well as the British Police who have done the preliminaries.
Forms for the fund can be completed at TOGSfund@aol.com.
