The Wimbledon Foundation, the charity of The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and The Championships, has awarded £1 million in grants from its Community Fund to charitable projects in Merton and Wandsworth.
Established in 2014, the Community Fund was the Wimbledon Foundation’s first local grant programme and aims to help meet social needs and reduce inequalities within the two London boroughs.
During the pandemic, the Foundation paused the Community Fund and diverted the funding to its Coronavirus Fund which allocated £2m to projects supporting those most severely affected by COVID-19 including homeless people, disabled people, minority groups, older people and refugees.
Relaunched at the beginning of 2022, the Community Fund has awarded grants totalling £400,000 to 55 local organisations this year. Representatives from the beneficiary charities were invited to the All England Club last week to enjoy afternoon tea at and a guided tour of Centre Court.
Attending the event, Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, founder and director of the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, said: “We’re really excited to have received such a generous grant from the Wimbledon Foundation to work with young people and families in Merton. As a drug education charity, we will use this funding to deliver workshops to students, training for teachers, and workshops for parents which will support local young people to make safer choices about drugs.”
Patrick Marples, Chief Executive of South West London Law Centres which helps people on low incomes access free and low cost legal advice on social welfare issues said: “We know that many in our community are living in precarious housing situations and are at risk of losing their homes from falling behind on their rent or mortgage payments. Through the generosity of the Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund, we are able to fund a crisis navigator to help people resolve their debt problems so their home is no longer at risk and their financial position is more secure.”
Paige Murphy, Head of the Wimbledon Foundation, said: “Our Community Fund is one of several ways in which the Wimbledon Foundation is making a positive difference and helping to change people’s lives in our local community. Over the last eight years we have supported a diverse range of projects tackling a wide range of social issues from food poverty to community cohesion.”
