Kevin Michell
RUMS Tennis Club Fundraiser
Fundraising for Bright Ideas for Tennis
Story
Hello! If you're reading this, you may be one of the pedestrians I passed on the street. Thank you for visiting our fundraising page! Please read below for more information and, if you deem us worthy, donate to our cause!
Thank you!
Everyone has been affected by coronavirus.
Our charity, Bright Ideas for Tennis( BIFT), had all fundraising activities cease for 12 months. Sessions became online and tennis equipment were posted so that their most vulnerable players could continue to participate.
I, like many of my friends and colleagues, volunteered our weekends and evenings in ICU bays and Acute Covid wards during the second wave. Others I know have lost livelihoods, or were kept separated from loved ones. Some sadly have had family members or friends pass away.
And so, I once again don my Covid PPE (minus FP3 mask) and plan to run between the 3 UCL hospital sites (Royal free, Whittington and University College Hospitals - roughly 8 miles). Whilst I'm officially running for our charity, BIFT, I also like to think i'm running to commemorate the hardships we've faced over the last two years.
For whomever reads this, this event is for you.
This is the main fundraising page for UCL RUMS Tennis club 2021/2022, (RUMS stands for Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Medical Students Society) raising funds for the amazing charity Bright Ideas for Tennis (BIFT) and their project IPlay30.
"I Play 30 are free tennis activity sessions designed for adults and children with learning, sensory and physical disabilities and for those experiencing mental ill health.
Each session will be run by a qualified LTA coach who has received specific disability tennis training and specialised equipment will be provided including rackets. Participants are encouraged to play at their own pace, just sign up as and when you feel like it "
- abstract from BIFT website
At UCL RUMS Tennis, we aim to widen participation and accessability to Tennis, and out of a number of outstanding charities that were shortlisted, BIFT stood out for providing a unique experience open to everyone, regardless of their background, and was therefore chosen by democratic vote by the RUMS Tennis committee. Charities were chosen based on locality, relatability and impact achievability.
The BIFT website states that it costs around £1,500 to maintain a venue, hence our modest target for that region.
Events
Our First 24 hour match on the 4th/5th December was a huge success, with over 366 games (61 sets) played, a BIG congratulations to the 16 volunteers who braved the December evening conditions, a special thanks to Chingford School of Tennis!
My Main Event will be to run a marathon (26.2 miles/42.1 km) within the space of around 7 months. I have no prior experience in running.
My 2nd Event will be to run between UCLMS three main hospital sites in full COVID PPE - Whittington, UCLH and Royal Free hospital (roughly 8 miles) on Wednesday 8th of December