Andy Murray donates Queen's Club winnings to Grenfell Tower appeal

Defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has pledged to donate his winnings from the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club to the victims and families of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The tennis star is the latest sportsman to make a donation. If he wins the event for the third year in a row his contribution will be £346,000.

Grenfell Tower is just two miles from the club and "several firefighters who attended the inferno work at Queen's every year as casual staff", reports the Daily Telegraph. Murray is said to have been "deeply affected" by the blaze that killed at least 79 people.

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Murray isn't seeking publicity for the gesture, says the paper. The Daily Mail reveals how the news leaked out: "Tournament sources said that he had asked for all his prize money to be directed there, although the player's management declined to comment, describing it as a private matter."

It's not the first time Murray has used the tournament to help charitable causes.

"When he won the Queen's Club title in 2013, Murray donated his £73,000 winner's purse to the Royal Marsden Hospital, who successfully treated his friend, the former doubles player Ross Hutchins, for Hodgkin's lymphoma," reports The Guardian. "The tournament, the most prestigious on grass in the lead up to Wimbledon, has since been upgraded to an ATP500 event."

In 2014 Murray also helped organise a charity event at Queen's in honour of former British number one Elena Baltacha, who died of liver cancer earlier that year.

This year he's made a concerted effort to support Roger Federer's work in raising money for causes in Africa. He was also involved in last weekend's 'Great Get Together' to honour the memory of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, says the paper.

The Guardian also points out that when Murray was knighted last year, it was for services to both tennis and charity.

Other sportsmen who have donated to the fund include Arsenal player Hector Bellerin, and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling, who grew up in London, says the paper.