Andy Murray has been named as the recipient of this year’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his efforts to help people affected by the war in Ukraine.
In March, the Scot announced that all of the prize money he earned in 2022 would be donated to UNICEF to help with their aid programme in the region.
Murray announced on Thursday that he had won just over £510,000, all of which would go directly to the charity.
“It seemed like something that would give me some extra motivation this year,” he said. “I thought I could also raise some awareness and hopefully get others involved in helping, too.
“There are 7.5 million children in Ukraine and, after more than nine months of increased conflict, 5.2 million of them are in need of assistance.
“When you see images of children on the news who were impacted by things like this, that makes it even more difficult to stomach. I have four young children who are really fortunate that everything is fine with them. But, being a parent, it affects you differently. You try to put yourself in their shoes.”
The former world number one, who is a UNICEF ambassador, continued: “I’m in the fortunate position to try to make some sort of difference, so hopefully the money that’s been raised through Unicef can help some of the children who have been affected.
“In 2014, I became a UNICEF UK Ambassador, and later that year I received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the first time.
“It’s an honour to be named recipient again. The reason to do the right thing is not for an accolade like this, but it is nice that it is appreciated somewhere.”
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