The 5-time Olympic Gold Medal rower Steve Redgrave talks about the motivations for getting involved in charity work; “I wanted to try and make a difference.”
Redgrave, the most successful British Olympian in history, talks about how he managed to combine sports and philanthropy, setting up the Steve Redgrave Fund. “Because I had such a long career, I joined in the charity elements when I could.” Because of the length of his professional involvement with sports, he wanted to avoid the usual sportman’s trap; “your sporting career tends to be quite short… you’re not really sure what to do afterwards, and then you get involved in the charity sector.”
The Steve Redgrave Fund targets the youth problems of obesity, social exclusion and lack of confidence in British schools. After raising £5 million pounds in five years, it was decided to work with the Sport Relief charity and combine efforts.
Although Redgrave is Britain’s leading athlete and a dedicated philanthropist, he is self effacing; “there’s a lot of people involved with sport who have done quite a lot within charity.”
