Tennis in Cornwall took a significant step forward today after new tennis facilities were unveiled at Redruth Tennis Club in West Cornwall thanks to a £26,000 grant from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), with support from Sport England.
Wendy Reading from the SITA Cornwall Trust was joined by Town Mayor Ian Thomas, MP for Camborne and Redruth George Eustice, Cornwall Councillor Graeme Hicks and LTA Councillor Hilary Webster for the official opening of the new facilities.
To mark the unveiling, the club hosted a day of tennis activities and refreshments including a number of mini tennis sessions for the youngsters.
The project was completed after the facility received the funding for the reconstruction of two derelict courts to provide two new floodlit macadam tennis courts providing the club with six all-weather courts in total.
Redruth Tennis Club, which is a Clubmark club, received the £26,000 from the LTA to help improve the tennis offering and enhance access to tennis opportunities for the local community, with a further contribution of £25,000 from the SITA Cornwall Trust. The new facilities will allow the club to attract a full time coach and will help further enhance the existing programmes on offer.
Speaking at the opening Wendy Reading, Fund Manager at the SITA Cornwall Trust said the trust was delighted to support this valuable, longstanding community facility;
“On visiting the club, I was impressed by the commitment of the members to provide affordable facilities to all, with special focus on recruiting and training young players in a safe, friendly environment. Whilst in the past there was never enough court space, playing capacity has now increased by fifty percent, helping to facilitate the growing membership and providing increased potential for professional coaching. On behalf of the Trust, I wish the club every success for the future.”
Mark Hollow, Chairman of Redruth Tennis Club said;
“The new floodlit courts will provide us with the opportunity to promote all year social tennis and coaching particularly for young people. Redruth and the surrounding area will benefit from a first class tennis facility. This will help us to continue our strong links with the local schools and the community tennis programme we currently run. The project is the culmination of a lot of hard work by officers and members of the club. I would like to thank them and Sita Cornwall Trust, the Lawn Tennis Association and Cornwall Council Community Fund for the grants that made it possible. I would also like to thank First Serve and Luminance Pro for their high quality workmanship.
Richard Lewis, Sport England’s Chair, said:
"It's vital that public funding for sport goes into facilities that meet the highest standards, are welcoming, and cater for everyone. That's how we’re going to get more people using them every day. The new courts and floodlights at Redruth Tennis Club will offer better playing facilities for its members and encourage more people from the local community to get involved in the sport."
Georgina Loosemore, Tennis Development Manager for Devon and Cornwall said:
“Thanks to Sport England we were delighted to be able to provide Redruth Tennis Club with this investment. The resurfacing and addition of floodlights will be a big boost to the club and an asset to the local community. The facility, with the provision of floodlights, will not only increase the number of playing hours but will improve the “tennis experience” as a whole.
“Redruth has an extremely pro-active club committee and coaching team who are keen to link with the local community and schools making the future of the club very exciting. Improving and increasing facilities is central to the LTA’s overarching plan for British Tennis as we work to increase the number of people playing tennis and sustain interest in the game.”
The funding has been provided as part of British Tennis’ facilities strategy which has received substantial investment from Sport England. This makes a crucial contribution to tennis’ drive to increase the opportunities for people to participate, compete and get access to coaching at all levels of the game in communities nationwide.
The LTA makes financial support available through its resources and ensures investments will deliver the maximum return for British Tennis through more people playing and more hours on the court across Britain. There will be an increase in the number and standard of facilities nationwide which will be available to the whole community at a reasonable, affordable cost.