A giant mosaic made entirely from tennis nets, balls and rackets has been created by WaterAid, ahead of the Wimbledon 2024 championships.

The artwork shows a boy and his mother enjoying clean water to highlight the message that more than 1,000 children’s lives could be saved each day of the tennis championships if they had access to safe water, toilets and hygiene.

It took a team of artists from arts organisation Sand in Your Eye nine hours to create the striking image on one of Wimbledon's grass tennis courts, next to the iconic Centre Court. It features 18-month-old Dylan and his mother Anja, 23, from Antsakambahiny village in Madagascar who, with the help of WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation, now have clean water in their community.

Tim Wainwright, chief executive at WaterAid, said: “Clean water is a game changer; it has the power to unlock people’s potential, meaning children like Dylan can grow up healthy and communities can thrive. But nearly one in 10 people around the world live without this essential resource close to home.

“This giant tennis mosaic, at Wimbledon’s world-famous grounds, is a poignant reminder of how more than 1,000 children’s lives could be saved each day of the Championships if everyone, everywhere had safe water, toilets and hygiene.

“Together with the Wimbledon Foundation, WaterAid is working tirelessly to call game, set and match on the water crisis and create a world in which all of us can survive and thrive.”

The Wimbledon Foundation, the charitable arm of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships, has been working in partnership with WaterAid since 2017 to help make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of daily life in communities and healthcare centres across Ethiopia, Nepal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali and Myanmar.

Last year, the foundation announced an extension of the WaterAid partnership for a further four years, building on its work and expanding into Pakistan and Mozambique.

Bruce Weatherill, chairman of the Wimbledon Foundation, said: “Children should have the chance to play, learn and look forward to their futures, no matter where they are born.

"That is why the Wimbledon Foundation and WaterAid are working together to make clean water, decent toilets and hygiene a normal part of daily life in healthcare facilities and communities across the world.”

The rackets used in the mosaic were loaned by Give It Your Max, a children’s tennis charity that collects preloved tennis rackets and redistributes them to children in their school programmes. After the championships, the tennis nets and balls will be given to local charities.

The Wimbledon Championships 2024 runs from 1-14 July.