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Ukrainian refugees who have been taken in by families in the south London boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth are getting an unexpected summer gift. The All England Club, which runs the Wimbledon Tennis Championships is donating more than 1,000 tickets to see the action in SW17 to refugees and their adoptive families.
Around 65,700 refugees have arrived in London from Ukraine since May 29, fleeing from the Russian invasion, and Merton Council has welcomed more than 400 of them into the borough.
Some of the tickets were given out to refugees last week at a tea organised by Merton Council, the All England Club and local charity Polish Family Association to welcome the new residents to the borough.
Sally Bolton, head of the All England Club, said: ‘I’m delighted that Ukrainian refugees hosted across Merton and Wandsworth will be joining us for play on Middle Sunday at Wimbledon. We hope this will be a great day for the local community, with thousands of tickets also distributed to our Covid heroes from the NHS and social care, local residents, schools and charities.’
For the first time these championships, play is being scheduled on the traditional rest day of Middle Sunday ‘in order to reach broader and more diverse audiences’.
The first Wimbledon Championships were held back in 1877 and have since had winners like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Around 500,000 people turn out each year and getting tickets is no easy feat.
Eleanor Stringer, deputy leader of Merton Council, said the borough was delighted ‘to share some of the excitement of the Wimbledon Championships with our Ukrainian guests’.
Find out more about the Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2022.
A Balham community centre is donating aid to Ukraine.
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