Encourage children to follow their dreams, says Judy Murray

Judy Murray urged parents to encourage their children to follow their dreams as she backed a charity that provides school meals in some of the world’s poorest countries.

The tennis coach said she is a “big fan” of Mary’s Meals, which feeds more than 1.6 million children every school day in 18 countries around the globe.

The charity is celebrating the role of mothers in the run up to Mother’s Day on March 22 and is asking supporters to send a Mother’s Day gift card of £15.90, which will feed a child for a whole school year.

Mrs Murray, mother of tennis stars Jamie and Andy, said she thinks one of the key parts of being a parent is creating opportunities for your children while letting them learn from their mistakes.

She told the PA news agency: “I think you give them wings so they can fly.

“You create the environment for them to thrive and that environment changes at every step of the journey.

“You have to help them develop independence, responsibility, keeping their feet on the ground, all the good values in life and help them to develop their life skills that will stand them in good stead as they progress towards adulthood.”

While her sons have gone on to have successful tennis careers, initially Murray just wanted them to be active and enjoying the fresh air.

She said: “I’m a huge believer in the power of sport in terms of overall development of young people.

“My kids both went on to have careers in sport but when they were little I just wanted them to enjoy sport and being outdoors and sport was something that we could do together as a family.”

Picture: PA. Judy Murray is backing Mary’s Meals.