Leicester Tigers are proud to welcome The Bodie Hodges Foundation and the Leicestershire and Rutland Blood Bikes, alongside the Matt Hampson Foundation as the club’s official charity partners for the 2019/20 season.
Representatives and volunteers from each of the charities were presented to the Welford Road crowd during Tigers derby day fixture against local rivals Northampton Saints in the final pool game of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
The three charities join the Leicester Tigers Foundation as this year’s charity partners which will see them work with the club to help raise awareness and funds to support their work within the community.
The Bodie Hodges Foundation offers support to families that have been bereaved of a child and raises awareness of Organ Donation. Back in 2012, the Hodge’s family suffered a devastating loss when they lost their ten-month old son Bodie following a chocking accident.
A year later, Bodies’ father Nick founded the charity to create a support platform for bereaved families and continues to impact people’s lives around the East Midlands.
Leicestershire & Rutland Blood Bikes provide a free out-of-hours courier service to the regions NHS transporting blood, blood products and medical equipment. This saves the hospitals from having to use a front-line emergency ambulance or a taxi to fulfil this role.
The charity provides liveried motorbikes and vans for the group’s use and has been fully operational since 2016 supporting the three main Leicester hospitals operating 365 days a year.
The Matt Hampson Foundation aim is to provide advice, support, relief and/or treatment for anyone suffering serious injury or disability.
Formed in 2011 and through the inspirational story of former Tiger Matt Hampson, the team offers hope and inspiration to young people with similar injuries as he shares his experiences and devotes his life to raising vital funds for those in need of support.
The Leicester Tigers Foundation utilises the power and expertise within Leicester Tigers Rugby Club to help make a positive difference to the lives and opportunities of individuals and groups every year.
Alec Brown, fundraising and administration manager at Leicester Tigers, said: “With the start of a new season, it gives me great pleasure to announce that we will be working with two new charity partners for the upcoming season.
“The Bodie Hodges Foundation and Leicestershire & Rutland Blood Bikes are two fantastic and unique organisations that offer support for families across the region. We hope we can help to spread awareness of issues across the Tigers family and raise vital funds.
“We are also pleased to be welcoming back the Matt Hampson Foundation who continue to deliver amazing work for those less fortunate, and the Tigers Foundation, who deliver a number of projects across the community.”
Tigers’ charity partners receive a number of benefits to include a collection at a first-team match and assistance in raising the charity’s profile by adding the stature of the club during their time as a partner.
As well as the benefits to charity partners, Tigers also make available 100 pairs of tickets to each of two designated ‘charity fixtures’ to be used by fund-raisers to generate revenues.
