Stoke Park
Enriching the lives of young people
Stoke Park, the iconic hotel and sporting estate set within 300 acres of beautiful historic parkland in Buckinghamshire, has a long-standing association with SportsAid. Most notably, Sir Elton John hosted a fundraising concert at Stoke Park in 2014 which generated over £300,000 to support the charity and help talented young athletes.
Stoke Park is a major supporter of SportsAid Week, the charity's annual awareness raising initiative, and has previously held tennis-a-thons where the club's members join team captains Denise Lewis and Mark Foster for a full day of play on the indoor courts. Many young tennis stars have previously joined in the fun with Emma Raducanu, the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977, participating in the competition four years before she won the US Open.
A unique and innovative partnership was launched last year between Stoke Park, SportsAid and Leap, a social enterprise based in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, to create opportunities for children to achieve their personal best at whatever level they choose to participate in physical activity. The School Games is a fully inclusive programme which reaches over 20,000 children in Buckinghamshire. Talented young athletes supported by Stoke Park through SportsAid gave their backing to the initiative by engaging with and inspiring pupils across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes during the academic year.
Five of the supported athletes - Marli Jessop, Chisom Nwafor, Jayaditya Kumar, Victoria Fisher and Jerry Anderson - attended the Bucks School Games in July where 1,800 children took part in sporting competitions, including BMX, skateboarding, athletics and swimming, across Aston Clinton Park and Stoke Mandeville Stadium. Their involvement supports their own personal development while showing what can be achieved through sport - dedication, focus, self-belief, team-ethos, a sense of purpose and creating a healthy lifestyle - as they encourage their younger peers within the community.
SportsAid’s partnership with Stoke Park stretches back to long before London 2012 and we’re delighted to see it continue and evolve. Stoke Park’s commitment to being an active supporter in its community connects well with SportsAid. Linking the inspiration of talented local young athletes supported by Stoke Park with the amazing experience of the School Games, also now sponsored by Stoke Park, is an exciting initiative. We’re delighted to work in collaboration with Stoke Park and Leap.