A charitable trust set up by the Mattioli Woods co-founder and his wife has donated £500,000 to the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
The Ian & Clare Mattioli Charitable Trust has put the funding into the basketball arena’s expansion plans and create a continued legacy from the family to the communities of Leicester and Leicestershire.
Work is underway adding another 4,000 sq ft to the basketball team’s home just outside the city’s inner ring road.
The expansion will not increase the venue’s 3,000 person capacity – but it will make it more flexible and increase the basketball capacity from three courts to five.
It will also add two outdoor courts and an exhibition hall, creating the biggest basketball facility in the country and helping the club’s bid to become the home of 海角视频 basketball.
The Trust – established by the Mattioli family in 2016 –works to help enhance the lives of people, including people from communities and groups who might otherwise struggle to access opportunities.
The arena expansion plans will improve its community use among groups such as the Riders charity and the Leicester Riders Foundation and for Leicester College students, for wheelchair basketball users and other community sport users.
The donation will cover around a fifth of the total cost of the project, which is due for completion by October 2022.
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Ian Mattioli MBE is the founder of the trust and chief executive of Leicester wealth management business Mattioli Woods.
He said: “Leicester has always looked after our family in the very safest of environments and that is why we are delighted to be part of creating a legacy for the diverse communities we support in the city of Leicester and beyond.
“To also be able to do this through sport and a project that has the potential to impact so many people is something we will continue to take great pride in supporting, and we hope it will be used by many, many people in future years.”
Kevin Routledge, chairman of Leicester Riders, trustee of Riders Foundation and a director of the Arena, said: "This incredibly generous contribution from the Ian and Clare Mattioli Charitable Trust is hugely welcome and a critical part of the funding of the extension.
“The work of the Riders Foundation and the demands on the arena are growing in an unprecedented way, and the extension is critical to keeping up with the many, competing demands.
"We cannot thank Ian, Clare, Laura and Alex enough for their very kind donation and it will enable us to deliver an arena, community services and events that will make the city proud."
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