Updated: 24/3/22
Tennis For Ukraine Raises £8845!
Well done and thank you to all of those who supported the Tennis for Ukraine event, held at Wickwoods, Sunday 20/3/22. Organisers Andy Knights of Ski Safari, Jo and Nick Rivett of Nick Rivett Sport joined forces and set out to raise £1000. At the time of writing, £8845 has now been raised - what an outstanding achievement! See the photos below.
Andy Knights says “…I was watching the horrors unfold in Ukraine and felt compelled to do something other than just make a donation to a charity, as helpful as that is I wanted to go further, help a little more and bring people together doing something we all love to do and raise as much money as possible to help the people of Ukraine. After having that initial thought and idea, I immediately messaged Nick & Jo Rivett”.
Jo Rivett says “It was a privilege to be involved in such an incredible event, our original target was £1000 and now, with funds over £8845 it is amazing to think of the help this money can give to the work of Choose Love charity, to those fleeing Ukraine. We’ve always known first hand through our work how amazing the Sussex tennis community is, but today we are completely humbled by the support, donations, kind words and time given by every single person involved in this event. Biggest of thanks to Andy for asking us to get involved and to Wickwoods Country Club, who, without them this just would not have been possible – their kindness and generosity was greater than we could ever have imagined.”
During the event, approximately 100 players played for 24 hours, with some playing multiple matches into the early hours. Players initially starting off on the indoors courts and moved outside onto the artificial clay, enjoying the near perfect weather until sundown, later they moved indoors onto the Dome courts. Ladies, Men’s and Mixed Doubles all took part, and no matter what standard players were, everyone had fun! Ashley Neaves of @the_tennis_mentor also joined in and kindly hosted an incredible doubles clinics on our indoor courts.
Jo Rivett says “Of course we did see some truly sensational play, Nick & I watched a spicy men’s doubles at 20:00, the Robert’s vs Amin’s was a cracker, then at 01:00 we had the disco tennis gang of Sarah Piper, Steve Clark, Gerry Boyd & Kerry McGillivary breaking out the moves and shaking the hips, blasting out the tunes in the Dome and really helping lift our tired bodies from the night-time slumber. The help kept on coming, we had so much support throughout the day and night.”
Thank you to those who volunteered alongside the event organisers, plus those who helped raise awareness of the event, including Julie Goldin of @tennis_sussex. Well done to Andy who also managed to have the event mentioned by Allison Ferns on BBC Radio Sussex.
Thank you to all of those who donated to such a worthy cause. Donations continue to be welcomed! Choose Love (UK Charity No 1099682) will support projects which provide vital aid and services to those still in and fleeing the country, including: emergency medical care, food, shelter, clothes, legal support, support for the LGBTQIA+ community and mental health support.
Wickwoods also made a donation of £500.
A special shoutout to the event organisers Andy, Jo and Nick Rivett - well done!