LTA Tennis Foundation celebrates another impactful year
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The LTA Tennis Foundation (LTA TF) is the LTA’s official charity with a mission to improve lives through tennis. 2024 was another exciting year for the charity with some standout moments such as the cinch Championships Fan Day at Queens in aid of the LTA TF, hosting its first Golf Day, and delivering multiple unique experiences for its charity partners at the LTA’s events.
The LTA TF is a grant and loan making charity, and this year saw the third Grant Making round completed, where grants were awarded to seven organisations. One of which included Krimmz Girls Youth Club who deliver an award-winning programme of physical, social, and confidence-building activities for girls aged 11-18 from predominantly Muslim and South-Asian communities living in areas of deprivation across Bolton.
Founder, Khadija Patel said of the grant “We are excited to have been given the opportunity to create more opportunities and access for Muslims to participate in tennis, which have been limited due to financial constraints and lack of facilities to cater for the needs of the community. The support will heavily promote inclusivity within the sport, encouraging a more diverse group of participants. It will help break down cultural and social barriers, fostering an environment where Muslim women and girls especially will feel represented and welcome”.
The LTA TF also continued to support a suite of LTA programmes that align with its mission to improve lives through tennis, these include LTA SERVES, LTA Open Court, and LTA Youth Schools. It was another bumper year for these programmes, with some headline numbers listed below.
- Over 8,000 £250 vouchers funded for schools, enabling teachers to purchase equipment or access team teaching sessions depending on the need.
- Over 80 adaptive equipment packs funded for LTA Open Court, to support venues deliver inclusive tennis sessions, which currently helps to impact over 16,000 people
- Over 160 equipment packs funded for LTA SERVES, which is live in over 870 community venues in Great Britain, making tennis accessible in underserved communities.
Facilities Investment
This year the LTA TF has awarded over £3M to support more than 20 venues with their facility development through the Quick Access Loan scheme. This brings the total investment into venues to over £30M since 2019.
This year also saw the official opening of Oriam Indoor Tennis Centre in Edinburgh and Moray Sports Centre in Elgin which the LTA TF and the LTA supported through the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis (TSIT) programme.
The Park Tennis Project, an investment of over £30million by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation delivered by the LTA, has continued to bring park tennis courts across Britain back to life for the benefit of local communities. Over 2500 courts have now been transformed 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.
The Charity Network
When the LTA TF launched, it also developed a Charity Network which aims to bring together different organisations to collaborate, share knowledge and identify further opportunities to help improve lives through tennis.
Members can take advantage of certain benefits which include access to ticket ballots and networking events across the year. This year, the team conducted a review to make sure it was achieving what it was set out to do. All members had the opportunity to feed into the process and at the event in December, which was held at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, the updates were announced. These included the addition of new benefits which include access to the LTA Buying Group to support cost saving, access to data from the LTA Insight team, and an opportunity to access LTA colleague volunteer days to support specific projects.
Unique Experiences at LTA Events
This year the LTA TF awarded over 300 tickets to the Charity Network for the LTA’s events. For some people who attended, this was their first time watching live tennis, Amani, a participant with Carolle and Iman Tennis in Birmingham said, “It was my first-time seeing men's tennis live and I really enjoyed it, the seats were basically front row. We had an amazing day - it was really great getting behind the Brits playing!”
In addition to the tickets, some individuals were able to step on court and take part in a coin toss, and groups had the opportunity to go behind the scenes for an insight into what it takes to deliver these events, and potential careers that might be open to them in the future.
Support from Players
Throughout the year the LTA TF was lucky to have support from some of tennis’s top players and a couple of well-known celebrities!
At the cinch Championships Fan Day which was in aid of the LTA TF, eight players were split into team Ace and team Bounce to take part in three exhibition matches. Team Ace, captained by Judy Murray and Comedian Josh Berry was made up of Andy Murray, Neal Skupski, Joe Salisbury and Frances Tiafoe, while Cam Norrie, Francisco Cerundolo, Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo formed Team Bounce - led by former professional tennis player Annabel Croft and British adventurer Bear Grylls.
Team Ace and Bounce were also made up of children and young people from the Tim Henman Foundation and The Queen's Club Foundation, who are both funded by the LTA TF. The groups were able to sit courtside during the matches, and each one of them had their moment on court – a once in a lifetime opportunity!
Kate Maurici, Head of The Queen's Club Foundation said: “The kids had an utterly amazing day, thank you!”
Another big moment in the year was the LTA TF’s first Golf Day which saw 19 teams take part, not only in a round of golf, but some tennis themed challenges along the way! The day was supported by special guests Dan Evans, Neal Skupski, Billy Harris, Joe Salisbury, and two-time Grand Slam champion, Jo Durie!
And to close out the year, the LTA TF had support from British Number 1, Katie Boulter who took time out on her way to Malaga for the Billie Jean King Cup to visit an LTA TF funded Age UK Walking Tennis Programme.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the LTA TF in 2024, whether that was running a marathon, entering a raffle, or giving up your time to support at an event – the charity could not have so much impact without your support.
Inspired to support
The LTA Tennis Foundation is a fundraising charity and needs to raise money to improve more lives through tennis.
