New Wimbledon champion volunteers in Zanzibar school

Twenty-one year old Linda Noskova is the new Wimbledon Women's Champion 2026 and less than 12 months ago she was volunteering in Zanzibar. With the help of charity Zanzibar Learning 4 Life, Noskova spent a week working at a school of 300 pupils aged between six to 11.

“There was a lot of poverty,” she said. “Conditions were not easy. It was hard to see sometimes.When I came back, I was definitely more appreciative of everything that I have. I would say that for every player, it’s important to see the other side, the other lives and the other world, so that we can appreciate this lifestyle that we have a little bit more.”

Noskova did not stay at one of Zanzibar's many incredible luxury properties. Instead, she slept in a bunk bed, sharing a stuffy room without air-conditioning with three other volunteers, and during the day helped with childcare and teaching.

“Traveling to Zanzibar, Africa to volunteer was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life, and finally making that long-time dream happen felt both surreal and unforgettable,” Noskova said. “I prepared myself for the cultural shock, but nothing could compare to being there in person — seeing how people live, understanding their challenges and feeling their warmth despite having so little.”

She has promised to continue to provide funds to the school ..and her £3.6m prize money for winning Wimbledon will no doubt help!

“Their kindness, their excitement and their resilience changed something in me,” Noskova said. “Supporting them now feels like the most natural thing to do. This trip opened my eyes in ways I didn’t expect, and it reminded me how fortunate we are, an experience I believe everyone should have at least once in their life.”

Noskova’s social conscience extends far beyond just volunteering one week a year. She has a separate Instagram account for off-court matters including “the environment, human rights, animals”, with the first of those particularly close to her heart.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRvGtx-CM4R/

And unusually for a 21-year-old tennis player, she has already started thinking about where her passion might take her later in life. She added: “After I finish my career, I definitely want to do something environmentally related.”

Linda Noskova was interviewed ny James Gray, Sports News Editor at The i Paper. Original article https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/linda-noskova-wimbledon-volunteer-africa-4640504?srsltid=AfmBOoowVM1G8NzSw5yWGfEADUbBm4gmrV2-ayCWFB3Dhbg1WY8kmy9o