Give It Your Max
954. Mike Stotesbury
955. Tara Stotesbury
Mike and Tara Stotesbury, from London, established the tennis charity ‘Give it your Max’ in memory of their son Max, a qualified tennis coach who passed away at the age of 18 in a tragic car accident.
‘Give It Your Max’ provides qualified coaches and equipment to children between five and ten years old, who might not otherwise have an opportunity to play. Since its launch in 2005, the charity has supported 100,000 children and launched programmes in primary schools in over twenty areas across the UK. A number of the children ‘Give it your Max’ coached are now playing competitive county level tennis. The charity also recently secured a five year joint partnership with the ‘Tennis Foundation’ aimed at encouraging young people with disabilities to get involved in the sport.
Mike received the award from ‘Give It Your Max’ charity patron Tim Henman at Wimbledon:
As another fantastic #Wimbledon fortnight comes to an end, watch Tim Henman present Mike Stotesbury with a #PointsofLight award, recognising him and his wife's exceptional work setting up @Giveityourmax & encouraging children to play tennis pic.twitter.com/AhyGfndg5P
— DCMS (@DCMS) July 15, 2018
In a personal letter to Mike and Tara, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“The fantastic work you are doing with ‘Give It Your Max’ has given over 100,000 young people the chance to get involved in tennis. It is a wonderful tribute to your son Max and his love of tennis.”
Tim Henman said:
“As a patron of the Give it Your Max charity, I’m delighted to award Mike and Tara with a Points of Light award for their exceptional work encouraging more young people to play tennis in the UK.”
Mike and Tara said:
“We would like to thank the Prime Minister for the Points of Light award. We were very surprised and felt very delighted to hear about the award.”