IN THE LIONS DEN: THANKS MELBOURNE
Support for the Foundation as well as for the British & Irish Lions team in Australia has been absolutely incredible, writes Matt Hampson Foundation chairman Adam Walker in our exclusive tour blog.
Melbourne you did us proud.
After a wonderful week in Brisbane – see Tommy’s blog last week – we arrived in Melbourne on Monday.
It is such a privilege to represent Hambo and everyone at the Foundation as part of this Lions tour. To spend time with Ben Calveley and his team at the Lions, Sarah Webb at Wooden Spoon and Nicola Roseman from My Name’5 Doddie shows how strong the rugby community is in helping one another. We are so proud to have been chosen as an official charity partner by the Lions Trust.
Alongside the rugby, it has been a pleasure to meet many local people who ask about the Foundation and what we do. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming to the Lions supporters.
Meet the team
On Tuesday, we were delighted to visit The Next Step in Epping, a spinal injury rehabilitation charity and recovery centre founded by Rhiannon Tracey who suffered a catastrophic injury at the age of 21 in a pool accident. Just like Hambo, Rhiannon was not put off by her accident and wanted to ‘get busy living’.
Foundation CEO Tommy Cawston, Geordan Murphy and I were hosted by Jake, Senior Exercise Physiologist – not quite an Aussie Sutty but you get the picture – and it was fantastic to meet the team, their clients and their mascot Pablo, a salamander (which can regenerate its spinal cord if it’s damaged – nature is truly amazing).
The Next Step is all about neuropathy, providing evidence-based recovery solutions for athletes with spinal cord injuries or other neurological disorders.
We have so much in common and will definitely stay in touch and connect our respective teams.
When we arrived at the stadium for the second Test against the Wallabies on Saturday, it was fantastic that Hearts in Rugby Union, with whom we shared a dinner event in Brisbane during the opening week, were the recipients of the match raffle with 20,000 Australian dollars was raised on the night.
The weather in Melbourne is a lot cooler than Brisbane but the welcome was just as warm and it was marvellous to see the #SeaofRed throughout the city.
And so to the match. Reading the press afterwards, some suggest it was one of the top 10 games ever. Certainly the biggest deficit overcome by the Lions to win a Test match. Only a strong unit could achieve that so congratulations to head coach Andy Farrell and all the team.
Congratulations, too, to our Foundation ambassador Ollie Chessum on his second cap, first start and a Lions series winner – not many can say that.
I am sure many of you were watching at home. If you want to feel a bit closer to the action while also raising much-needed funds for the Foundation, check out our silent auction where all the Lions merchandise has been donated to us for free.
So on to Sydney and our final week. Get Busy Living!
Adam Walker, Chairman, Matt Hampson Foundation
