A boy who has raised nearly £10,000 for WaterAid tossed the coin for the men’s Wimbledon final, after showing it to Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
Mu’awwiz Anwar, eight, met the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children George and Charlotte before taking centre stage at Centre Court just before the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Last year, Mu’awwiz, from Buckinghamshire, cycled three miles every day for 30 days during Ramadan to raise funds and this year he completed a half ironman triathlon.
The young fundraiser was introduced to George and Charlotte and handed the coin used to start the final to Charlotte, who showed it to her brother, before passing it back.
William asked Mu’awwiz if he had been practising and if he would get to do the coin toss himself.
Kate told Mu’awwiz “I hope you enjoy every moment of it. Well done. Thank you so much for being here.”
His mother, Saira Awan, said: “Mu’awwiz chose WaterAid because he couldn’t actually believe that there were so many people around the world who don’t have access to clean water.”
Since 2017, the Wimbledon Foundation has donated more than £1.5 million to support WaterAid in its mission to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to clean water.
Paige Murphy, head of the Wimbledon Foundation, said she was “thrilled that someone as deserving as Mu’awwiz will get to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Jennie York, director of communications and fundraising at WaterAid, said: “We nominated Mu’awwiz because he is an extraordinary fundraiser, doing amazing challenges to raise money for WaterAid, and we are blown away by his dedication and hard work.
“It is thanks to the incredible efforts of people like Mu’awwiz – as well as the generosity of the Wimbledon Foundation and others – that ensure we are able to reach as many people globally with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. We are hugely grateful to them all.”
