We are delighted to announce that we will be partnering with Guildford-based charities Oakleaf and The Fountain Centre as part of our 2022 fundraising campaign.

Surrey Sports Park will host a number of fundraising events in aid of the two charities, and there will also be regular challenges and collections taking place throughout the year.

Oakleaf are a mental-health charity whose aim is to transform the lives and futures of adults in the community who are managing their mental ill-health while helping them secure the skills, confidence and training needed to return to the workplace.

Meanwhile, the Fountain Centre are based at Royal Surrey County Hospital just across the road from SSP where they empower, support and listen to those who have been affected by cancer with free facilities and services for people to use.

Surrey Sports Park’s Managing Director Gavin Baker said: “I am delighted that Oakleaf and the Fountain Centre will be our charity partners for the year ahead. The fact these are Guildford-based charities means the work we support will have a direct impact on our local community, and this is always an important consideration for us.

“We look forward to developing our relationships with these two fantastic charities as we work together to raise funds which will play help support those living with cancer and those with mental-health needs in Surrey.”

The Fountain Centre’s chairman Martin Read also spoke of the benefits of the charity’s close proximity to SSP while welcoming news of the partnership.

He said: “This is fantastic news for the Fountain Centre and will go a long way to repair the funding shortfall of the last 2 years. We are so incredibly grateful to the team at Surrey Sports Park for choosing us as one of their charity partners for the year and I know our fundraising team are really looking forward to working with them.

“It is especially valuable to us to be able to work with Surrey Sports Park being located so close to us as a way of spreading the word about the work the Fountain Centre does with cancer patients and their families. We are inspired by their plans for 2022 and look forward to community partnership working at its best.”

Speaking on their partnership, Oakleaf chief executive Clive Stone said SSP’s backing will play an important role in sustaining the charity’s key support services.

“We are delighted to be supported by Surrey Sports Park as one of their charity partners in 2022. Their plans for fundraising, awareness raising and in-kind support will be instrumental in maintaining Oakleaf’s work-related training, wellbeing activities and counselling services for local people who are struggling with mental ill-health.

“The correlation between physical and mental health is well known, and we look forward to working together with Surrey Sports Park for better mental health in Surrey thereby reducing the associated challenges and difficulties,” he said.