Maya Jama leaves Bristol basketball coach in tears as she donates £56,000 minibus to support her younger brother’s club

Maya Jama bought a new minivan for her local basketball team after the club’s old vehicle failed its MOT.

The Love Island host, 29, who is originally from Bristol, decided to support her local club Bristol Storm after attending their awards ceremony at Ninja Warrior UK Adventure Park in May.

Maya’s younger brother plays for the under-16s clubs and she wrote a letter to club coach David Senart after hearing about the situation.

The host sent David a message that she could see how passionate he was about what he does and that she wanted to help.

After finding out that the club was not financially able to replace the minibus and that they had only raised £100 through fundraising for the new bus, she decided to help.

The star donated £56,000 for the new whip which was delivered last Wednesday.

David, 44, confessed to being emotional himself when Maya offered the money as he took to Instagram to explain how much the club means to him.

He told PA news agency: “I cried. I sat here and my eyes filled with tears, because we would never be able to buy such a bus.

“I got really emotional.

“For the kindness and generosity she has shown in doing so, I have no words to express how grateful we are for her compassion for us.”

The club received the minibus, printed with the Bristol Storm logo, on August 16 and hopes to use the bus for more extracurricular activities that will create lasting memories for its team.

He said, “Having a minivan, especially new and that lasts for years, allows us to do all these extra things to give these kids experiences that we just couldn’t do otherwise because we couldn’t do that. get there.

“These memories will now have an impact for the rest of your life.”

He also said the new minibus will have a ‘huge impact’ on the club and will help ease the ‘pressure’ on parents who used to take children to matches, helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He explained, “It takes so much pressure off the parents because a lot of parents don’t drive.

“We are a club in the city center. We have children from different backgrounds and financial backgrounds, and it has such a huge impact.’

The head coach spoke of the club’s previous ‘struggle’ with transport, particularly as Bristol Storm receives no government funding.

He said, “Our games have a huge radius in the southwest, so it’s a battle. I thought it was important to make (traveling) easier.

“We don’t get any money from the government. Basketball England has no money for clubs. We have no sponsorship.

“We struggled to get to the matches as we depend on parents to transport the kids… we travel from Cornwall to London for games and that’s not for anything extra.”

As a result of the purchase, Mr Senart said he has developed a close relationship with Jama, considering her part of the ‘Storm family’, saying there are ‘no words’ to express his gratitude.

He said, “There is no way I could ever express enough gratitude in words for what she did.

“I told her, ‘You’ll be the Storm family forever now.'”

Maya attended the club’s awards ceremony earlier this year, posing in a smiley face with David.

The star was pictured grinning with the members of the club as she posed for photos with some of the party night award winners.

He thanked the host for being there at the time, writing on Instagram, “Many thanks to Maya Jama for supporting her favorite basketball team Bristol Storm at our awards ceremony at Ninja Warrior!

‘The children had a great time at the course and enjoyed receiving their annual awards.

“Oh, did I mention Maya Jama was there?

What a great night and what a great club.’