Sturgess Jaguar Leicester donate a car-full of tennis equipment, including rackets, balls and nets to the Matt Hampson Foundation in a continuation of the support they have offered the charity over the past ten years.
Also in keeping with Jaguar UK’ s lengthy partnership with Champions of Wimbledon, local car dealership, Sturgess Jaguar Leicester, have donated crucial tennis equipment to the Matt Hampson Foundation, a charity which serves to inspire and support young people who have been seriously injured, particularly through sport.
The generous donation was made as part of Jaguar UK’s shared campaign with The Championships, Wimbledon 2021, to establish the next generation of tennis talent. The nationwide initiative looks to engage with schools and communities to encourage children to partake in physical activity, particularly in light of the year that was lost to the pandemic.
The Matt Hampson Foundation was established in 2011 by former rugby player, Matthew “Hambo” Hampson OBE, who suffered a serious spinal injury while training with the England under-21s squad in March 2005. Hampson, who embodies the charity’s ethos of ‘Get Busy Living’, set up the charity to help others — who had, like him, suffered similar catastrophic injuries — receive the support they needed to rebuild their lives.
The task of delivering the specially Wimbledon-branded Jaguar I-PACE full of equipment, was undertaken personally by Chris Sturgess, Group Chairman of Sturgess of Leicester, who also stayed to watch the equipment be put to use and afterwards, commented: “To watch these guys trying out tennis, it’s just incredibly humbling. If through what we’ve done here, in a very, very small way, someone actually goes on to a great thing with wheelchair tennis, then that would be absolutely marvellous”.
When discussing how the charity would incorporate the equipment into their endeavours, and how it could help people, Sophie Wilson, Head of Peer Support at the Matt Hampson Foundation, said: “Playing a little bit of tennis today, there’s that little bit of light that just comes back, which [people] might not have felt since before their injury, so it makes it a really special thing”.
CEO of the foundation, Tommy Cawston, was equally as thrilled with the special delivery and said: “We’re just very thankful for both Sturgess and Jaguar for making today happen, and without support from companies like them, we certainly wouldn’t be in the position we are in today.
Using the equipment, the Matt Hampson Foundation can continue to help those who have suffered life-changing injuries, get busy living again. To learn more about the foundation and the work they do, please visit: https://www.matthampsonfoundation.org/
By Gita Sarasia
