Passion for Sport Head of Operations Luke Hamilton reports from Paris:
I'm so excited to report back on my trip to Paris this week. The city was hot – very hot –and busy with tourists crowding the streets for the start of the Rugby World Cup.
I was lucky enough to visit the fan park as the final touches were being put in place; it's a true celebration of both culture and sport, with so many different nations playing in the tournament and being represented on the global stage.
Sports Stories Spaces has been designed to use these moments for reaching out to sports fans, merging the world of sport and art by creating a truly beautiful set of artworks and complementary printable resources.
These cover a wide range of Christian testimonies laid out across spectacular images of rugby internationals, in ways you’ve never seen before. Exciting, inspirational, and unforgettable.
We got to film reaction to the artwork from players themselves as part of the resources we've put together. England's number 8, Billy Vunipola, gave us an exclusive interview, sharing his thoughts on both the exhibition and upcoming tournament including a time of when he was playing with another featured player, Scotland’s Euan Murray.
Victoria is on camera while Luke holds the prompt for presenter Lynda
"I've played with him {Euan} before and he kept telling me off, he'd say 'Billy will you stop swearing', it was constant. I remember that very well!"
Artwork resources and recorded programming will be available free to use from England's first World Cup game against Argentina. We've designed the programming as a three-part series, to be shown before and after the game, with a feature presentation at half-time.
I encourage you to begin using these resources - available shortly - in whatever way you feel led. Your support will form part of a radical idea that when God’s people are unleashed for his purpose, the impact reverberates far beyond what we can fathom.
Luke is pictured at the stadium with (from left) Anne-Louise, Nicole and Cate