LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation at the forefront of bumper investment in grassroots tennis across Great Britain
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The LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation have helped create nearly 100 new covered and floodlight courts around the country as part of our collective ambition to open up the sport to more people and places.
2024 has been a significant year for investment in new facilities. £3.5 million has been spent through the Quick Access Loan Scheme across 31 projects, increasing court facilities and driving participation growth. This brings the total overall investment from the LTA Tennis Foundation to £11 million since 2019.
The scheme has supported the delivery of 17 new covered tennis and padel courts, along with 78 new floodlit tennis and padel courts.
These courts have added an additional 250,000 new hours of playing opportunities In England, Scotland and Wales. The new facilities mean grassroots players can get on court around the country more often - inspired by the success of our elite British players on the international stage.
Clubs and venues taking up the Quick Access Loan agreement have to make a commitment to the development of a community outreach programme that supports the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation’s vision of ‘tennis opened up.’ The aim is for tennis and padel, and the fantastic benefits they provide, to be open to as many people as possible across the whole of Britain.
Funding for the loans is provided by the LTA Tennis Foundation, the LTA’s official charity, and delivered by the LTA. The loan scheme has been designed to ensure there will always be financial support for facility investment available to clubs and venues.
The investment has revitalised courts across all areas of Great Britain from the Channel Islands to Scotland.
A great example of what can be achieved is in Edinburgh. The Grange Club, a leading sports facility based in Stockbridge, just a short walk from the city centre, now has two covered indoor tennis courts, along with two covered padel courts, after expansion on the existing site. The tennis courts opened in December.
Rick Symington, chair of The Grange Club, said: “Having the ability to play all year round and not worry about the elements will make a tremendous difference - normally for tennis, you expect people to join in the spring, when the weather gets better, but we've had a lot more new joiners wanting to get on the tennis courts. With the weather becoming ever more changeable, the ability to play inside will be truly transformative.
“The Quick Access Loan enabled the Club to complete the entire project at the same time saving on time, money and disruption in the long term.”
New padel facilities have also taken shape near to Bexley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club. Members formed an innovative partnership with the local cricket club, to develop four new floodlit padel courts on two unplayable tennis courts the cricket club had on their land.
Neil Smith, Chairman of Bexley Tennis Club, and Nick Riley, Chairman of Bexley Cricket Clubs said: “We are immensely grateful to the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation for their support, without the funding provided by the LTA Tennis Foundation, this project would never have happened. We are proud of what we have achieved and the partnership we have formed between a Tennis & Cricket Club. We are grateful to our members for supporting this partnership, which we are sure will be a success for many years to come.”
In addition to Quick Access Loans, the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation also fund grassroots tennis via a number of different schemes including the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis fund (TSIT). The fund, along with investment from sportscotland, Tennis Scotland, and other partners, is supporting the delivery of £15million for the development of indoor tennis centres in Scotland.
This has seen a new four-court indoor courts facility at the Moray Sports Centre in Elgin, open in July 2024, with the aim of enhancing year-round accessibility to tennis.
Plans for a three-court indoor centre to be built at the King George V sport complex in Dumfries and Galloway are also already underway, with the centre due to open in Autumn 2025. Once open, this will provide a base for the sport for Dumfries and Galloway and the many rural communities in the area.
This is all in addition to the Park Tennis Project, an investment of over £30million by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation delivered by the LTA, which has continued to bring park tennis courts across Britain back to life for the benefit of local communities. Over 2,500 courts have now been completed across the nation, helping to provide more opportunities for people to pick up a racket and play on quality, sustainable local courts.
Investment from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation is playing a critical role in opening tennis up, and the LTA’s aim through the project is for half a million more people to play tennis in parks every year.
Scott Lloyd, LTA Chief Executive said: “Tennis is one of our nation’s most popular sports, and it should be available and accessible to all.
“The facility infrastructure across England, Scotland and Wales is crucial to our ambition to open up tennis to many more people, whilst more quality indoor facilities in particular will help encourage people to pick up a racket and enjoy the sport all year round.
“I am delighted that this year we have seen a number of great projects come to fruition. All of us at the LTA are looking forward to continuing to work with our partners across Britain in 2025, so we can continue to drive even greater levels of participation and engagement with tennis.’’
