‘It’s what he would have wanted’: Tommy Coyle school uniform giveaway inspired by late father

SUPPORT: Tommy Coyle, second from right, with some of his team at the school uniform giveaway

By Rick Lyon

Boxer-turned-businessman Tommy Coyle says his giveaway of 2,000 school uniforms to hard-pressed families in Hull is part of his wider campaign to help young people get a good start in life.

Tommy said the generosity was only possible because of the success of his health and wellbeing businesses, which are set for major expansion in 2023.

He added that clients and suppliers have played a big part in helping him to support the local community, but that the key factor in deciding to go ahead with this year’s event was the memory of his late father.

Chris Coyle died suddenly in June just weeks before his 60th birthday, leaving his four sporting sons devastated. He was the inspiration for former Commonwealth lightweight champion Tommy and his three brothers Lewie, captain of Hull City, Joe, who runs his own JC60 professional golf coaching business, and Rocco, captain of Hull City under-18s.

Tommy said: “We weren’t planning to give out the uniforms again this year because we’ve done it twice, we’ve been busy with other things and we’ve been hit very hard by the loss of our father.

“But we knew he would have wanted us to help all those people, and we also knew that given the problems facing families at the moment, this wasn’t the year to stop.”

Families queued from early morning to collect free school uniforms from Tommy and his team at his gym, the Coyle Sports Academy, in Geneva Way, Hull. Local businesses Transwaste, Reach Recruitment and Sewell Group supported Tommy in sourcing uniforms, and he negotiated discounts from suppliers Asda and Morrisons.

Now the focus is back on business. A new health and wellbeing centre at Bridgehead business park in Hessle is on course for a grand opening early in 2023 and an award-winning service which Tommy’s company provides to hundreds of employees at Siemens Gamesa in Hull is also set for expansion.

HAPPY TO HELP: Award-winning Tommy Coyle

Work is under way on fitting out the interior of the “wellbeing destination” which is part of the Wykeland development at Bridgehead. Facilities will include the latest training equipment, a treatment room for physiotherapy and a café serving healthy options. The centre will also add a free outdoor community gym to a woodland trail which was planned and delivered by Wykeland, working with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

The partnership between Coyle Health and Wellbeing and Siemens Gamesa which supports more than 700 workers at the firm’s wind turbine assembly factory in Hull was honoured earlier this year in the Great British Workplace Wellbeing Awards.

With expansion of the factory and expansion of the workforce due for completion in 2023, Coyle Health and Wellbeing is ready to raise its game at the site and is also in discussion with other potential clients.

Tommy said: “The work we are doing with Siemens Gamesa is going really well and as they expand so will Coyle Health and Wellbeing. We are also in touch with other businesses, major employers from our region, about taking our services to help them.

“We aim to be operational at Bridgehead by the end of this year on an invitation only basis, perfecting everything ready for a big launch early in 2023.

“Our focus this year has been on consolidating and on building our team in readiness for the new projects. We’re having a very good year in business, the prospects for next year are very exciting. We’ve always believed that if we can do good business then we can do good things for our city, and the companies we work with help us with that.

“The school uniforms giveaway isn’t just about making sure local children look smart for school – it’s about giving them a good start in life, building their confidence to follow their dreams whether that’s in sport, business or anything else.”