Fundraising campaign launched to extend rehab centre
Matt Hampson has launched a major new fundraising campaign to pay for an extension to his rehab centre at Burrough on the Hill.
As Matt prepares to turn 40 on November 29 and next March marks 20 years since his rugby training accident left him paralysed, he wants to raise £40,000 for his Get Busy Living Centre.
The centre is the centrepiece of the Matt Hampson Foundation, which has supported the recovery of thousands of others who have also suffered life-changing injuries through playing sport.
“The Get Busy Living Centre is a unique facility which has come to symbolise everything that is good about the foundation and our values of family, communityand teamwork,” says Matt, who was awarded an OBE for his achievements in 2021.
“Extending the centre is our biggest project since it opened and it will require significant financial investment, but I know we’ll get there.
“We’re very proud of the foundation and our beneficiaries, but there is always more we can do and more people to help.
"Our plans for 2025 will allow us to show more young people that they can live exciting and fulfilling lives after serious injury.”
Matt was paralysed from the neck down and have to breathe through a ventilator following an accident in training with the England Under 21 rugby squad in 2005 but, rather than lament what he had lost, he decided to ‘get busy living’ – the mantra for his organisation – and he created the foundation as a charity to help others.
A programme of events for the next year includes a team of beneficiaries and fundraisers taking on the London Marathon in April, a summer ball and a golf day at The Belfry, while there is an opportunity to raise awareness of the foundation as an official charity partner of the British and Irish Lions and their tour to Australia.
Seeing Matt’s plans come to fruition would be the best possible present for a special year and a JustGiving page has been created to assist the goal of extending and transforming the Get Busy Living Centre.
Click HERE to pledge money to the campaign.