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An amazing 138 people from across the Gosforth area made a racket last Saturday (18th April) after attending the first free session from tennis charity ‘Tennis For Free’.
Young and old, mums and dads, boys and girls played on the Gosforth Central Park courts courtesy of a new initiative by Tennis For Free in partnership with local professional tennis coach Sean Damer, Newcastle City Council, Active Newcastle and the LTA. Now every Saturday between 1-3pm, people of all ages are invited to free coach led tennis sessions; you don’t even need a racket as all equipment is provided free of charge.
You can register for Tennis For Free at Gosforth Central Park online at www.gosforthcentralparktennis.com or for further information on Tennis For Free visit www.tennisforfree.com. You can also follow Tennis For Free on twitter @tennisforfree. Or contact Sean Damer on sdamer@fastmail.fm.
Started in 2004 and celebrating a decade of getting over 150,000 people to hit tennis balls for free, Tennis For Free is a registered charity founded by comedian Tony Hawks. It aims to provide healthy, vibrant tennis communities on FREE public park tennis courts creating new tennis players of all ages and backgrounds, and showing that tennis can be enjoyed by all. Tennis For Free supporters include Judy Murray (mother of GB No1 Andy), BBC tennis commentator Andrew Castle and ex Grand Slam winner Pat Cash.
Paul Jessop, Tennis For Free CEO said,
“We had an amazing 138 people turn up which shows how much the area really wants to have a go at playing tennis. The weather was kind and we hope to see those who attended the first session, re-join us at these weekly Tennis For Free sessions or at the wider tennis programme offered by Sean and his team.”
Jo Cunliffe, LTA Regional Tennis Participation Manager said,
“It was a brilliant afternoon of activity. Gosforth Central Park is a really accessible facility in the heart of the community and seeing so many families playing for the first time was great to see. I encourage everyone to have a go. It’s free, all the equipment is provided and with so many people there it’s a great social event too. It’s been so great encouraging more people to play and with Tennis for Free offering free sessions on a weekend, the local community will be able to meet and find others of similar levels to play with.”