National building award for Matt Hampson's Burrough rehab centre

The Get Busy Living centre, which supports the rehabilitation of young people who have suffered life-changing injuries while playing sport, has been given a prestigious design award.
The Get Busy Living Centre, at Burrough on the Hill, which has won a national building award EMN-180511-170635001The Get Busy Living Centre, at Burrough on the Hill, which has won a national building award EMN-180511-170635001
The Get Busy Living Centre, at Burrough on the Hill, which has won a national building award EMN-180511-170635001

The Burrough-on-the-Hill facility, which was built by the Matt Hampson Foundation, was officially opened this year by patron, former England rugby skipper Mike Tindall.

And now it has been named the best Community Benefit built project in the UK at the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Awards Grand Final in London.

Will Evans, who was chair of the judging panel, said: “This is a landmark centre, whose support goes far beyond the physical rehabilitation services it offers.

“It will provide life changing support to those who so very much need it.”

National RICS awards judge, Michael Wyldbore-Smith, said: “There are numerous reasons that this project deserves this accolade.

“The building is creating a future community for people who have been left with disabling injuries through sport a place to rehabilitate and meet others with similar stories and injuries, allowing them to build friendships and support groups for years to come.

“Furthermore, this building would not exist had it not been for a sense of community.

“As the brainchild of Matt Hampson, whose motivation can be felt throughout the entire centre, the whole process of this build has held the community at heart.

“From the farmers who gifted the land, to Willmott Dixon’s drive to create a supply chain where services and products were provided for free or at cost, it embodies community spirit.

“Where once stood a former aircraft hangar now stands a facility which has been created to enable those who might otherwise struggle to live a productive life and achieve what may have seemed impossible.”