The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
Rally for kids 2015
Fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
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The Aegon Championships will be supporting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Elena Baltacha Foundation through Rally for kids 2015.
Coloured wristbands will be sold onsite at Queen’s Club throughout the tournament, with proceeds being split between the two causes. Money from the resale of Aegon Championships tickets will also be donated to the shared campaign.
In 2013, following the news that British tennis player Ross Hutchins was being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma at The Royal Marsden, the tennis world united, putting on Rally Against Cancer – a week of fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity at the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club. An all-star exhibition match was held on finals day, involving Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Ivan Lendl and Tomas Berdych, together with celebrities including Boris Johnson, Richard Branson and Jimmy Carr.
In 2014, following the sad passing of former British No.1 player Elena Baltacha from liver cancer, the Aegon Championships hosted Rally for Bally, which brought together The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Elena Baltacha Foundation as beneficiaries of the tennis world’s support. This international fundraising campaign included a series of all-star mixed doubles tennis matches held at Queen’s Club, the Aegon Classic in Birmingham and the Aegon International at Eastbourne and featured some of the biggest names in sport, including Andy Murray, Martina Hingis, Petra Kvitova, Martina Navratilova and Tim Henman.
The money raised for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity this year will fund leading research of national and international importance at The Royal Marsden, particularly in the world-leading paediatric Drug Development Unit at The Royal Marsden’s Oak Centre for Children and Young People, ensuring young patients benefit from new cancer treatments and drugs that have been developed in the laboratories.
The Elena Baltacha Foundation supports the Elena Baltacha Academy of tennis, which Elena set up in 2010 to give more children from all backgrounds the opportunity to play tennis. Since last year’s Rally For Bally, the Academy has introduced thousands of children to tennis.
Donations will be shared equally between the two charities. Any details that a supporter agrees may be passed to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity will also be shared with The Elena Baltacha Foundation.
