HONOURED BY BRITISH & IRISH LIONS SELECTION
The British & Irish Lions has today named the Matt Hampson Foundation as a charity partner ahead of the 2025 tour to Australia.
The Foundation, which supports and inspires young people seriously injured through sporting activity, is among five charities chosen as Lions partners for the next two years.
Matt Hampson OBE said: “We are incredibly grateful and excited to be named as an official charity of the Lions Trust.
“As rugby fans, it means such a lot for us at the Foundation to be involved with a name known throughout the world and we look forward to working closely with the team to increase awareness of both our Foundation and the Trust as well as, of course, supporting the squad on their 2025 Tour.
“The British & Irish Lions stands for so much that is good about the game of rugby, and their values of respect, unity, integrity and friendship reflect how our Foundation works to bring people together in a special and supportive community.”
The Foundation was established by Matt Hampson, a former England Under-21 and Leicester Tigers rugby player who experienced a life-changing injury in 2005, leaving him paralysed from the neck down, aged just 20.
With beneficiaries from all over the country, the Foundation opened its Get Busy Living Centre in Leicestershire in 2018 to provide expert physiotherapy, specialist personal training, wellbeing support, mentoring and advice to help people with life-changing injuries to ‘get busy living’ again.
All the Lions’ chosen charities – Matt Hampson Foundation, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, Dallaglio RugbyWorks, LooseHeadz, and Wooden Spoon – have rugby at the heart of what they do and make a real impact on communities.
The two-year partnerships will allow the charities to use the British & Irish Lions digital platforms and Lions Charitable Trust branding for promotion. The Lions will also collaborate on fundraising and awareness events. In addition, merchandise from the Lions tour to Australia, signed by the squad, will be provided to each charity for auction.
Ben Calveley, Lions chief executive, said, “One of the key objectives of the British & Irish Lions is to have an impact off the pitch as well as on the pitch, and we are proud to be partnering with five incredible charities who all have a connection with rugby at their core. We look forward to supporting these charities and highlighting the important work they do.”
Gavin Hastings, the former international full-back and now British & Irish Lions Trust chairperson, added: “The Lions charity programme was first established in 2021 and has been a great success. It is a privilege to announce the five charity partnerships today and we are looking forward to working closely with each of these outstanding charities to support them raise much-needed funds for their charitable causes.”
The British & Irish Lions is an iconic sporting brand, touring the southern hemisphere every four years with a squad of players selected from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This year, the Lions have also announced an inaugural women’s tour to New Zealand in 2027.
