How did this happen? Three volunteers – Emily Cary, Lindsey Read and Simon Underhill, none of whom had even been in a tennis club before – raised £91,000 from Sport England and local businesses to renovate the derelict courts next to an existing sports hall into two hard courts and a well-appointed clubhouse.
The club now delivers coach-led evenings of activities to the local youth club – free of charge – plus a weekly Cardio Tennis session, which the local slimming club attends.
“We went out to local fairs, shows and schools to understand if this was something people would be interested in,” explains Lindsey. “It was a great chance to explain to our community what we’d like to do and rally support for our plans.
“After a hard year of gathering evidence of need, impact and sustainability, we applied for funding from Sport England and got the maximum bid of £75,000. We then gathered funds from nine other local charities and trusts, plus a crowdfunding campaign and business sponsorship to go ahead with the project.
“It was a long and challenging process, but it’s fantastic to give something back to the community and for anyone thinking of volunteering, just do it – don’t underestimate what you’ll get out of it.”
