Gladiators, ready! Apollo and Fire surprise children at Sport Relief funded project ahead of MLB London Series face-off

6th June 2024

  • The pair visited the charity StreetGames ahead of MLB London Series baseball challenge for Sport Relief this coming Friday (7 June)

  • BBC Gladiators, Apollo and Fire, are set to compete in The Cage, a unique live baseball experience at MLB London Series: Trafalgar Square Takeover

  • Ahead of the challenge, they visited StreetGames – a charity using Sport Relief donations to transform communities through the power of sport – in a new film released today

  • After surprising the children, Apollo and Fire took part in batting and agility inspired games and learnt how Sport Relief funding is helping children and young people lead happier and healthier lives

  • Watch the film here(opens in new window)

  • Exciting opportunity to win a VIP weekend away for two to New York in September to see this year’s London Series participating teams, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, up for grabs

  • Returning this summer, Sport Relief is encouraging people to be a good sport by coming together and getting active to tackle poverty and injustice in the UK and around the world

  • For more information on how you can get involved with Sport Relief, visit comicrelief.com/sportrelief(opens in new window)

Thursday 6 June: Gladiators Apollo (Alex Gray) and Fire (Montell Douglas) have visited StreetGames, a charity using Sport Relief donations to transform communities through the power of sport, in a new film released today.

StreetGames supports children and young people living in underserved communities across the UK by helping them and their communities feel healthier, safer, and more successful. Funding from Sport Relief supports the charity’s Fit and Fed campaign, which aims to tackle holiday hunger, isolation, and inactivity.

The visit comes as the Gladiators get set to go head-to-head in a baseball duel at the MLB London Series: Trafalgar Square Takeover this coming Friday (7 June), in support of Sport Relief. The pair will take on a home run derby like no other in The Cage – a unique live baseball experience that uses augmented reality to blend real life and virtual gameplay.

Putting their baseball skills to the test, the Gladiators will be joined by an MLB legend from each of the two teams taking part in this year’s MLB World Tour: London Series. Apollo – representing the Philadelphia Phillies – will be joined by Chase Utley, while Fire – representing the New York Mets – will be joined by Daniel Murphy. Free to attend, fans can cheer the Gladiators on from 6pm at Trafalgar Square, London.

After surprising young people at Sport at the Heart – one of StreetGames’ London projects – Apollo and Fire spent time learning about how the Fit and Fed programme provides children and young people with access to food and a variety of sporting activities in a safe space outside of school, where they can make friends and be themselves.

The visit was also an opportunity for Apollo and Fire to get some last-minute practice in before their baseball match up on Friday evening. Split into Team Apollo and Team Fire, the young people took part in a series of fun-filled games, with an extra-special surprise in store. After putting their agility skills to the test – Apollo, Fire and the children travelled to The 108 – Europe’s biggest indoor, all-weather baseball and softball facility – for their very own baseball batting taster session. To find out who came out on top, visit Comic Relief’s YouTube(opens in new window) channel now.

Apollo said: “I’ve been involved in sport for as long as I can remember, and there’s no better feeling than coming together, getting active and having some fun with your friends. And that’s exactly what Sport Relief is all about. Your donations make incredible projects like StreetGames possible – so whatever it is, we’d love it if you could get involved too. Rest assured…not everything for Sport Relief will require you to go head-to-head against a Gladiator this summer!"

Fire said: “We had such an amazing time with the kids, who I must say, weren’t shy about putting us through our paces! There were so many smiles on faces throughout, and it was great to see how Sport Relief donations and the power of sport are being used to make such a positive difference."

Looking ahead to their match up in Trafalgar Square on Friday, Fire added: “Don’t tell him, but I did keep a sneaky eye on Apollo during the batting practice at The 108…and I have to say, his batting was on point. So, it’s going to be tight, but I can’t wait. If you’re able to, it’d be great to have you down there on Friday to cheer us on."

Amari is a Community Sports Coach at the project, having first joined as a volunteer when he was 15, and runs sessions each week. He said: “For kids it’s a space to be free, be themselves and to enjoy themselves in a space outside of school with fewer restrictions. It can be an escape for them. Sometimes they’ll go home, and don’t have much to do, or they’re bored in school, so being able to come here broadens their horizons and enables them to express themselves through sport. Funding from Sport Relief is changing people’s lives, every second, every minute. Every session I do makes a change and its thanks to the support that we get."

Returning this summer, Sport Relief is encouraging people to be a good sport by coming together and getting active to tackle poverty and injustice in UK and around the world. Money raised by Sport Relief is funding organisations that are using the power of sport to change lives by helping to break down barriers, put roofs over heads, tackle hunger and support people with their mental health.

MLB fans also have the exciting opportunity to win an incredible trip for two to New York this September to see this year’s London Series participating teams, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, battle it out. The trip of a lifetime includes return flights to New York, 3 nights at a 4* hotel, two tickets to see Mets V Phillies @ Citi Field Stadium on Friday 20 September, $1000 spending money, and two $150 vouchers for the official MLB Superstore in midtown, Manhattan. To find out how to enter the prize, and for full terms and conditions, visit comicrelief.com/win(opens in new window)

To find out how you can get involved with Sport Relief, visit www.comicrelief.com/sportrelief(opens in new window)

ENDS

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Sport Relief

Sport Relief is a year-round fundraising campaign run by the charity, Comic Relief.

Sport Relief harnesses the power of sport and entertainment to bring people together across the UK, to get active, have fun and raise life-changing funds. Since launching in 2002, Sport Relief has raised £420million so far, thanks to the generous British public, and supported millions of lives in the UK and around the world.

Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief. For more information about Sport Relief, please visit www.comicrelief.com/sportrelief or follow @comicrelief on social media.

About Comic Relief

Comic Relief is a UK charity that uses the power of entertainment and popular culture to work towards a vision of a just world free from poverty. We raise money to support organisations that are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will tackle the impact of poverty, injustice, conflict, and climate change in the UK and around the world.

Since launching in 1985, we have raised over £1.6 billion thanks to the huge generosity and kindness of the public and our partners. For more information on our work, visit www.comicrelief.com(opens in new window) or follow @comicrelief on X(opens in new window) (formerly Twitter), Facebook(opens in new window), Instagram(opens in new window), LinkedIn(opens in new window) and TikTok(opens in new window) for the latest content and news.

Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).