Help us to help others after life-changing injury
NOAH’S STORY
Noah was just 16 when he was paralysed from the waist down in an accident on a motocross bike, but he has returned to motorsport after regaining confidence and focus alongside his physical rehabilitation.
The world can be a scary place after life-changing injury and Noah couldn’t picture his future. But after leaving hospital, he started visiting the Matt Hampson Foundation’s Get Busy Living Centre for physiotherapy and personal training sessions to build his strength, plus counselling so he could talk about what he was going through.
He also met other young people on a similar journey and his visits gave him confidence and hope.
After an introduction from another Foundation beneficiary, Noah returned to motorsport with Team BRIT, the world’s only competitive team of all-disabled drivers, and in 2025 he is driving a McLaren in the Britcar Championship.
Rehab after serious injury is a long process, but it is an essential pathway to a fulfilling life. It costs around £80 for a neurophysiotherapy session like Noah received and you can help today.
LISTEN TO MATT TALK ABOUT OUR RADIO 4 APPEAL
LOOKING BACK, I THINK WE WERE ALL TERRIFIED
No one can prepare for the impact of life-changing injury, but the Matt Hampson Foundation is here to provide somewhere to turn, someone with shared experience and a team who can support the journey forward.
Matt experienced his own life-changing injury as a young professional rugby player which resulted in him being paralysed from the neck down and breathing through a ventilator, but rather than lament what he had lost, he decided instead to focus on what he could still do and to ‘get busy living’ again.
Recognising that feeling of terror and helplessness during the 17 months he stayed in hospital, Matt created the Foundation when he returned home and opened its Get Busy Living Centre near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire to offer expert physiotherapy, specialist personal training, wellbeing, mentorship and practical support.
As part of the Foundation, our beneficiaries and the people closest to them learn to adapt to a new life they had not planned and work towards a return to education, employment or sport.
When the Centre opened in 2018, Matt’s team welcomed half a dozen visitors. Just seven years later, that figure is approaching 70 beneficiaries every week. To keep up with demand, the team is now planning an extension to the facilities and the further development of regional satellite hubs to help even more young people.
MEET MATT HAMPSON
The Foundation’s creator, Matt Hampson OBE, will present its BBC Radio 4 Appeal.
Matt is the driving force behind the Foundation’s work and the development of its Get Busy Living Centre as well as a mentor, inspiration and friend to beneficiaries and the team working with them.
In 2025, we mark 20 years since the moment which changed his own life and also its impact on others forever. If anyone epitomises the ‘get busy living’ ethos, it is Matt.
MEET MATT HAMPSON
The Foundation’s creator, Matt Hampson OBE, will present its BBC Radio 4 Appeal.
Matt is the driving force behind the Foundation’s work and the development of its Get Busy Living Centre as well as a mentor, inspiration and friend to beneficiaries and the team working with them.
In 2025, we mark 20 years since the moment which changed his own life and also its impact on others forever. If anyone epitomises the ‘get busy living’ ethos, it is Matt.
FRESH HOPE, DRIVE AND PURPOSE
Building a sense of community is central to the Matt Hampson Foundation. In the aftermath of a life-changing injury, most people and their families feel isolated with an overwhelming sense of loss for what has been taken away from them.
By becoming part of the community Matt has created, beneficiaries are able to draw on the experience and knowledge of others who have been on the same journey. They develop the tools and skills they need to move on as they start to rebuild their lives and retrain themselves to focus on what they can do – not what they can’t.
Eventually beneficiaries progress to the point where they provide support to others, sharing their own experiences and aspirations. This is also a huge part of their own rehabilitation and being able to help others provides a real sense of purpose and identity.
THE FOUNDATION FAMILY
