Andy Murray’s tennis ball raffle raises £27k for Mid Sussex hospice

There were 2,021 entries to the raffle for the for the Wivelsfield hospice, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The first prize was a tennis ball signed by Murray and the late tennis legend Fred Perry.

The second prize was a signed Andy Murray t-shirt, a pair of tickets to the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and a Tour.

Third prize was a pair of tickets to the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and Tour and a 2015 Wimbledon towel.

The white tennis ball is one of a set of three that was gifted to Andy Murray by tennis fan Gail Sargent, who had met Perry on his visit to Maresfield Tennis Club in 1994.

Just over a decade later, by coincidence she then watched a young Andy Murray practising at a different tennis club.

Gail decided to pass the signed balls on to Andy as a gift.

Unbeknown to Andy, Gail was battling ovarian cancer, a battle she sadly lost in 2010 whilst being cared for at St Peter and St James Hospice.

In Gail’s memory, and after witnessing firsthand the battles with cancer suffered by his friends Elena Baltacha and Ross Hutchins, Andy decided to auction one of the balls for the charity and signed it himself.

Colin Burgess, chief executive of St Peter and St James Hospice, said: “We are so grateful to Kim and Andy Murray for their generosity and support, as well as to everyone who entered the raffle.

“Fundraising is vital to us at St Peter and St James Hospice as we receive just 14 per cent of our funding from the Government, therefore, the majority of financial support comes from our community.”