To enhance the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable children aged 4-18 across the UK.
We use tennis to tackle socio-cultural issues, including poor mental health and self-esteem, high levels of obesity and inactivity, anti-social behaviour and gang crime and low levels of aspiration.
Max Stotesbury was 18 when he died in a car accident in October 2004. His parents, Tara and Michael, decided to set up ‘Give It Your Max’ in his memory.
Max, who loved tennis, qualified as a tennis coach and assisted at the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative (WJTI) during holidays and at weekends. The WJTI (funded by the All England Lawn Tennis Club) provides instruction and facilities for underprivileged children in the local area.
Tara and Michael identified a real need for similar schemes in deprived areas all around the UK. Hence the idea of GIYM. It is their hope that many children will benefit from this lasting tribute to Max.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
elementor | never | This cookie is used by the website's WordPress theme. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_gat_gtag_UA_43707678_24 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
CONSENT | 2 years | YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
yt-remote-connected-devices | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt-remote-device-id | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
Tim Henman is one of Britain’s most successful male tennis players of the open era and was the first British player since Roger Taylor in the 1970’s to reach the last four at the Wimbledon Championships. During his career Tim reached the semi-finals at no less than six Grand Slams, including on four occasions at Wimbledon.
Tim’s career spanned fourteen-years beginning in 1993 until his retirement in 2007. During this time he won 11 ATP Tour titles, was consistently ranked in the world’s top 15 and achieved a world ranking high of number 4.
Tim represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup competition from the age of 19 and in 1996, in partnership with Neil Broad, he won the Men’s Doubles silver medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Since retiring in 2007, Tim has enjoyed life at home with his wife Lucy and his three daughters, Rose, Olivia and Grace, while remaining active in tennis – on court as a competitor on the ATP Champions Tour and off court as a television commentator for the BBC.
Tim continues to play an active role on behalf of a number of charitable endeavours. He has served as Chairman of the ATP Charities programme and also founded ‘The Tim Henman Charitable Foundation”.
Sir Trevor McDonald, a keen sportsman and active tennis player since his teens, was born in Trinidad and spent much of his career in the United Kingdom working as a television journalist.
Sir Trevor enjoyed a lengthy career at Independent Television News (ITN) during which time he was the recipient of numerous prestigious awards – including The British Academy Television Fellowship Award, The National Television Award – Special Recognition Award, and The National Television Award for Broadcasting.
Sir Trevor is also involved in several other charities including the Historical Royal Palaces charity, which looks after the running of the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, the Banqueting House and Hampton Court and De Paul Charity which looks after homeless young people and missing people.
Sir Trevor was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Leon began coaching professionally at club level at the age of 18, but became focused on working with elite players in 1998, the year in which he was appointed the national performance officer for Tennis Scotland. After a short absence, during which he set up a training academy at the Next Generation Club in Edinburgh, Leon rejoined Tennis Scotland in 2002 as an LTA academy coach and in 2004 he became the national training coach for Scotland.
Under Leon’s leadership the GB Davis Cup team has achieved remarkable progress. In 2013 the team won promotion from the Euro / Africa zonal group and went on to claim a coveted place in the competition’s World Group featuring the best 16 nations. In 2014 the team reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1981, having beaten the USA in the previous round. Leon has enjoyed coaching several high profile Scottish junior players over the year, the most notable of whom is Andy Murray and indeed Leon was instrumental in guiding Murray’s formative years.
In 2005 Leon progressed to the role of LTA’s national under-16’s coach and took on responsibility for the under-18’s in 2008. In 2009 Leon was appointed LTA Head of Player Development and in 2010 he was promoted to Head of Men’s Tennis, as well as taking on the role of Davis Cup captain. In taking on the prestigious position, at the age of 34, Leon became the second youngest Great Britain captain following on from Paul Hutchins (appointed in 1975 aged 30).
As of May 2015, Leon’s Davis Cup record stands at won 9 lost 2. GB’s most recent tie was a victory again against the USA in March, which has sent the team into the quarterfinals of the World Group for the second year running.
Virginia Wade was the Number 1 British tennis player for ten consecutive years and ranked in the World Top 10 continuously from 1969 – 1979.
In 1978 she achieved a World Ranking high of Number 2. Throughout her career Virginia represented Great Britain in both the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup, making a record number of appearances.
The crowning moment in Virginia’s career was 1977; the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee; when she won the Wimbledon Women’s Singles title. In addition to winning Wimbledon, Virginia claimed two further Grand Slam singles trophies during her career – the 1968 US Open and the 1972 Australian Open. Success was also forthcoming at the highest level in doubles, with Virginia winning four Grand Slam titles at the Australian Championships, French Championships and US Open.
In total during her distinguished career Virginia won 55 singles titles and 839 matches – the fourth highest in the history of Women’s professional tennis – with only Martina Navratilova (1,442), Chris Evert (1,304) and Steffi Graf (900) having won more.
In 1989 Virginia was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
Since retiring from the Tour in 1986 Virginia remains very actively involved in tennis, both on court and as a long-standing tennis commentator and match analyst for the BBC and many other networks around the world.
Virginia is Vice President of the Dan Maskell Trust, a charity which raises money for disabled tennis players.
John Beddington was a Trustee of GIYM for 13 years and co-founded The Tennis Ball, the proceeds of which benefitted GIYM and IC Philanthropy.
John has been involved in the tennis world for over 50 years and has played a major role in the management of nearly 200 international events around the world. He was Tournament Director/Chairman of the Canadian Open Tennis Championships in both Toronto and Montreal for 17 years and was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006. In 1997, he co-founded the Champions Tennis event at the Royal Albert Hall in London which ran for over 20 years featuring the tennis stars of yesteryear.
John is a member of the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon.
Michael is a qualified chartered surveyor who specialised in investment surveying, having worked at Richard Ellis before setting up his own practice. Although now retired, he continues to consult on one or two projects a year.
Mike has played tennis throughout his life, playing for Kent both as a junior and then as a senior. Mike is a member of a number of tennis clubs including Public Schools Old Boys’ LTA, The All England Lawn Tennis Club and the International Lawn Tennis Club of GB. Mike has been a member of both the IC of GB and the AELTC since the mid 1970’s and was captain of the IC of GB in 1994. Other interests include golf and fly fishing. He was President of The Flyfishers’ Club in 2005.
Tara has been involved with charitable institutions for much of the past 35 years, ever since joining the RNLI Ball Committee at the age of 16. Within a few years she was instrumental in founding the RNLI Junior Committee, on which she served as Chairman for two years. Tara went on to become a member of the RNLI Central London Committee where she spent a further six years helping to organise fundraising events.
Tara maintained her charity interests whilst raising a family of three children (Freddie, Brook and Max) and moving with the family to Wimbledon in the 1980’s where she became involved with the Roehampton Branch of Save the Children Fund and later served as Chairman.
In joining GIYM as a Trustee Gill brings to the Charity vast experience of tennis. Gill was Yorkshire junior champion in all age categories before going on to represent the University of Hawaii as their No.1 player, graduating in 1982 with ‘special honours’.
Following on from University, Gill continued with her tennis adventures, competing in the qualifying event at The Wimbledon Championships and playing competitive German Club League tennis, before taking up a role as the Gloucestershire Junior and Senior County coach.
In more recent year, despite a hugely active role supporting husband Philip in his endeavours as Chairman of The All England Lawn Tennis Club (“AELTC”), Gill nevertheless remains active on the tennis court and devotes much time to working with juniors of all ages and standards. Since 2007 Gill has been heavily involved with the AELTC’s Wimbledon Junior Initiative Programme (WJTI), including working on court alongside Head Coach Dan Bloxham. In 2016 Gill accepted an ambassadorial role with the Tennis Foundation assisting wheelchair tennis athletes.
Gill is delighted to become a GIYM Trustee because she is very passionate about working with children in tennis and believes that tennis can teach children standards, morals and meaningful life skills through participation in the sport.
Give It Your Max is delighted to announce that Debs Burles has agreed to become a GIYM Trustee. Debs currently sits on The Tennis Ball Committee and comes to GIYM with a great deal of experience in events and sponsorship and so we are very fortunate to have Debs join our Trustee Board.
Debs graduated from University of West of England in 1997 and has since spent the majority of her working career in the sports, events, tv and entertainment industry.
Highlights include activating sponsorship programmes for Barclays around the end of year men’s tennis finals at The O2, increasing the profile of Chefs Heston Blumenthal and Clare Smyth, running the retail offering at Eton Dorney during London 2012, management of the TV production of the ATP 1000’s series, as well as various roles at IMG (Highlights being Producing World’s Strongest Man, part of management team of The Wimbledon Shop and sponsor servicing of Senior Men’s Tennis Tour).
Debs now lives in West Sussex with husband Simon (freelance TV sound recordist) and son Alfie, and is very actively involved in village and school life. Having worked in tennis for many years, becoming a trustee of GIYM is a chance for Debs to give something back to the tennis world and she is excited about becoming involved, especially from an events and sponsorship/marketing angle.
Jenny brings 20 years experience in the sports industry, working in a range of commercial and marketing roles. She started her career at IMG and has since managed the sponsorship and marketing operations for MLB across Europe and enjoyed eight years at the Rugby Football Union as Head of Commercial Partnerships, where she was heavily involved in developing and delivering the partnerships strategy for a number of major grassroots programmes.
Since leaving the RFU she project managed the first Formula One Esports Series and has spent the last three years at Henley Royal Regatta where she has enjoyed establishing the recently developed partnerships programme, working with a number of high profile global brands. Jenny was also on the Board of Trustees for Interactive, the strategic lead organisation for sport and physical activity for disabled people in London prior to it merging with London Sport.
Jenny has a huge passion for grassroots sport and providing young people with the opportunity to participate and enjoy the benefits that sport can bring. She is honoured to be appointed as a Trustee and excited about the opportunity to be part of delivering the incredible work of GIYM.
Jonathan is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified with BDO in 2004. Whilst at BDO, he focused on Corporate Finance transactions. In April 2017, he joined International Schools Partnership (ISP) which is a leading schools group with over 40 schools around the world, teaching over 40,000 students. At ISP, Jonathan is Head of Group M&A, and has helped the group expand through acquisitions of schools.
Jonathan is a dedicated tennis player, having first picked up a racquet when he was 10 years old. He grew up in Bristol where he represented County and Region for tennis, and at the University of Exeter, he was Mens Captain. Since leaving university, Jonathan has been very involved with the Public School Old Boys’ LTA where he is currently the Hon. Secretary. Wanting to give back to the tennis community, Jonathan has, for many years, volunteered in the running of his local club, Epsom LTC.
Jonathan is honoured to join GIYM as a Trustee and is keen to become involved in both the Financial and Social aspects of this admirable charity.
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Spicer and Pegler Nigel has worked in the investment management industry in the United States as well as the UK. He is currently Chief Executive of Hotchkis & Wiley Limited and a member of the Executive Committee of its parent company in the US. Nigel also serves on the board of two AIM listed natural resources companies.
Nigel is a very keen player of rackets sports. He was a winner of the Public Schools Rackets Championship, captained Bristol University at tennis as well as playing for the British Universities team.
He is delighted now to be involved as a trustee of Give it Your Max which plays such an important role in bringing the game of tennis to an ever wider and more diverse audience of young people.
Conor is a senior advisor on board-level network development, recruitment and board effectiveness. He previously served as the Head of Portfolio Board Development at Advent International (one of the largest and most experienced global private equity firms) from 2007 to 2019. Prior to Advent, he held senior roles with Andersen, Linklaters, Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) and 3i. Conor graduated from Kingston University with a BA in Law and thereafter from King’s College, London, with an LL M.
Conor is Vice-Chair of Governors at The Hythe Community Primary School in Staines, a Student Mentor and Entrepreneurship & Careers Advisor for Kingston University, a speaker for Schools & Young Adults at Making the Leap (social mobility charity) and a former Governor of St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Fulham.
In the world of tennis, Conor is a member of the All England Club and the Queen’s Club where he was formerly Vice-Chair. He also sits on the Committee of the Public Schools Old Boys’ LTA of which he was previously Hon. Secretary and then Chairman. He is a former joint holder of the Surrey Men’s singles title and has represented Surrey at junior, Mens ‘A’ and O45 levels.
Conor was invited to become a Trustee of GIYM in November 2021 and was both honoured and delighted to accept. He succeeded Mike Stotesbury as Chair of the Board of Trustees in May 2022.
Katia not only has 20 years of experience in the retail industry but has also spent lots of time on court! Katia was the Under 18 Junior National Champion and top ranked junior in GB, representing Team GB in many international events and team competitions.
She holds an MBA from New York University (NYU) and a BA in Economics from UCLA where she attended on a tennis scholarship and received All-American and All-Academic honours. She is honoured to join GIYM as a Trustee and is excited to become involved in both the commercial and social aspects of the charity.
Paul Riley is a GP in Merton with an interest in reducing health inequality through public and patient education, with particular attention to the underlying social determinants, and prevention and self-management of, chronic disease.
On the tennis court he represented Surrey County as a junior before captaining Cambridge and a combined Oxbridge and Cambridge team at university. He competed for The Wimbledon Club in national club and county leagues and has represented the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain. From 2013-17 he was the tennis chairman of The Wimbledon Club and oversaw the implementation of professionally managed adult and junior programmes with local school and university links.
Through his personal and professional experience Paul is passionate about the profound impact sport and tennis can make on young people’s lives both in terms of their physical and mental health and equipping them with lifelong transferable skills that will prepare them for a successful future. He is delighted to be a trustee of Give It Your Max and support their work to ensure these opportunities are available to children who can benefit most.
Emmanuel is a Level 3 LTA accredited Tennis coach, the lead GIYM Tennis coach for Merton School Sports Partnership & a tennis coach For The All England Lawn Tennis Club through the WJTI Programme. He has played tennis since the age of 4, at which point he was selected to play for the WJTI programme, training 2 days a week up until the age of 16.
Continuing his career, He went on to play at a national level and trained full time at Sutton Tennis Academy from the age of 16 to 18. Emmanuel enjoys helping others from all different ages and standards, by teaching them the skills he has learnt and adapting them in his own way!
Joy Tacon was a professional tennis player ranked in the top 200, Captain of England in 1987, played Wimbledon 1985-1988 and recently represented GB at the World Seniors Championships.
Joy is a Trustee of the International Tennis Club Philanthropy Committee; on the RAC’s VCR Steering Committee; as well as a speaker for the charity Speakers for Schools.
Joy went to Wycombe Abbey School and then attended the University of Houston as a tennis scholar. She has a BSc in International Finance, graduating Magna Cum Laude.
Joy worked in Hong Kong from 1994 to 2011 and ran the Hong Kong subsidiary of a legal technology company. She expanded this to include offices in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere around Asia before the business was sold. Since then Joy has been Managing Director of a private UK investment property company.
Joy is thrilled and honoured to join the GIYM team
Cameron Norrie is the current British number 2 tennis player. Despite only turning professional in 2017, Cameron has already reached a career high of 66 and has sat comfortably inside the world’s top 100 since May 2018. In 2018 he won his debut Davis Cup match against tough opposition in Spain. Cameron played tennis, squash, rugby, football and cricket from the age of 6 and appreciates the benefits that sport has on young children. At the age of 15 he decided to focus on tennis and is a great role model who will inspire the children who take part in our sessions.
Heather Watson is the current British number 2 tennis player. She won her first WTA singles title in 2012 at the Japan Open which made her the first British female to win a WTA singles title since 1998. She has since won two further WTA singles titles in Monterrey and Hobart and the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title in 2016. She is a two time Olympian and has represented Great Britain in Fed Cup on numerous occasions. She has a career high singles ranking of 38 in singles and 42 in doubles. Heather is a true competitor and a model of success.
We are thrilled to annouce that British tennis ace, Joe Salisbury has joined Give It Your Max as a Player Ambassador. Joe is the current world number 1 doubles player and is an incredible role model.
Joe is an Australian Open and US Open men’s doubles champion with partner Rajeev Ram and is also a two time grand slam champion in mixed doubles winning the French and US Open with partner Desirae Krawczyk.
We are very excited that Joe has joined our team and we look forward to working with him.
Harriet is one of the UK’s most promising young tennis players and is on course to become a Top 100 WTA player. Harriet reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of World No.122, following her success at the Brisbane International in January 2019. She is currently the 3rd highest ranked British tennis player and has solidified her place in the British Fed Cup squad. She made her WTA debut at the 2015 Aegon International and has won 14 titles on the ITF women’s circuit. In 2020 Harriet achieved a career first at the Australian Open, reaching Round 2 to face Simona Halep in the Rod Laver Arena. With her dedication to the sport and her incredible attitude and work ethic, Harriet will be a wonderful role model and an inspiration to the Give It Your Max children.
Abigail is a former professional tennis player, with over 15 years experience in the sports and entertainment business.
Prior to her new position at GIYM, Abigail was formerly a Client Director at Octagon Inc. where she was recognized as one of the leading agents in the industry, managing and supporting global talent such as Anna Kournikova, Andy Murray, Martina Hingis, Laura Robson, Marion Bartoli, Grigor Dimitrov, Darren Gough, Damon Hill and Paula Radcliffe.
After 13 years in Client Management, Abigail went on to head up the European Events and Sponsorship Division for the global luxury goods brand, Maui Jim. In this capacity she was responsible for securing and managing all European commercial partnerships including the exclusive ATP official eyewear deal, in combination with managing a portfolio of 30 European sporting events and securing headline brand ambassadors.
Abigail continues to be an active tennis player and is a member of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. As a mother she understands the important role that sport can play to enhance a child’s life and is honored to continue the great legacy of ‘Give It Your Max’, a charity that has touched and continues to touch many children’s lives.
Lorna began her career at the International Tennis Federation, working in their commercial team and travelling around the world to Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Hopman competitions. From the ITF she moved to ESPN to sell sports channels and content before taking a career break to raise her young family.
With a passion for tennis and working with children, she was thrilled to begin working for GIYM in 2018. Lorna is a keen tennis player and an LTA accredited coach.
In addition to her GIYM role in marketing and events she also delivers tennis lessons to groups of young children and cardio tennis for ladies. Knowing the major benefits of tennis for physical and mental wellbeing, she is passionate about getting as many people to enjoy the game as possible!
Eliza Antelme joined Give It Your Max as an Intern in 2021 when she ran GIYM’s 2021 campaign for Children’s Mental Health Week and started ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’. Her focus was on events, marketing and social media. She then mentored our next two interns. Eliza is delighted to be part of the Give It Your Max team.
Eliza has worked at a primary school in London and as a tutor (especially helping families during the Covid-19 pandemic). She has seen the huge benefits sport provides for children’s physical and mental health, especially when times are tough. Eliza loves being a part of achieving GIYM’s mission to provide more children across the UK with the opportunity to benefit from sport.
Eliza has a Level 3 qualification in Leadership and Management and is also studying for a Classics Degree at Durham University.