Work starts on rehabilitation centre
Work on a new rehabilitation centre being championed by the Matt Hampson Foundation has officially begun following a ground-breaking ceremony.
The Get Busy Living Centre, which will be located near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, will provide facilities for those who have suffered catastrophic injury through sport and their families.
The event, which marked the start of works on a new access road for the centre, was attended by Matt Hampson, Leicester Tigers Mathew Tait and Matt Smith, as well as former Tiger and now the Foundation’s commercial director, Louis Deacon, and representatives from many of the partners involved to celebrate the beginning of the project. Partners in attendance included: Wilmott Dixon, Corporate Architecture, Derry Building Services, Cartwright Communications, Barton Plant, The Bennie Group and Salus.
The Get Busy Living centre is the brainchild of Leicestershire-based charity, the Matt Hampson Foundation.
The construction of an adapted access road linking the existing Twyford Road to the site of the Get Busy Living centre officially marks the start of the project.
Matt Hampson, a former Leicester Tigers and England under-21 rugby player, suffered a life-changing accident during a training session in 2005 and set up the foundation to offer support and assistance to those who have had similar life-changing events and he is the driving force behind this new facility.
He said: “It’s an almost surreal day after years of talking about the centre to see work begin and the project officially underway. The centre will be so important and really change the lives of its beneficiaries, offering physical and mental support and rehabilitation after life-changing injuries.
“We are so grateful to our project partners and it was great to see many of them represented at our ground-breaking ceremony. This is a huge step forward for both the centre and for the Foundation as a whole, and we would not be here if it was not for their support and generosity.”
The project is being delivered by a number of local partners, many of which are offering their time, services, materials and expertise for free, including: construction company Willmott Dixon, professional services firm MDA Consulting, architects Corporate Architecture, engineering consultants Couch Perry Wilkes, Salus and BSP Consulting, PR and marketing agency Cartwright Communications, mechanical and electrical design and build contractors Derry Building Services, earthmoving, ground engineering and restoration contractor, Barton Plant, and supplier, Peter Bennie, both part of The Bennie Group, and supplier GRS Roadstone.
