The Tennis Foundation Annual Review How We Transformed Lives Through Tennis in 2015 CONTENTS
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TENNIS ANY ONE The Tennis Foundation Annual Review How we transformed lives through tennis in 2015 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 WHO WE ARE 5 HOW WE’RE FUNDED 5 WHAT WE DO AND WHY WE DO IT 6 TEACHING LIFE SKILLS ON THE TENNIS COURT 10 MAKING TENNIS OPEN TO ANYONE, WITH ANY DISABILITY 14 TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH TENNIS 18 HELPING THE LTA MAKE TENNIS AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE 22 OUR TRUSTEES 24 AFTERWORD 30 2 3 INTRODUCTION HOW WE’RE WHO WE ARE FUNDED I joined the Tennis Foundation in 2011. Every year since then I’ve been immensely proud of what we’ve achieved as the UK’s leading tennis charity. In 2015 the Tennis In 2015, we saw our existing programmes go from We’re the Tennis Foundation, Britain’s Foundation received: strength to strength. Take Beyond the Baseline, leading tennis charity. We know anybody the initiative which puts inspiring tennis role models can play tennis. Anyone from any £6.2 million from the LTA, into schools to work with vulnerable teenagers. background and any community. which went towards funding It’s just one of the innovative ways we’ve found to No matter what their age or ability. our education, disability, coach transform lives through tennis. One of the highlights education, tennis development of the year for me was the NEC Wheelchair We were founded in 1987 by the Lawn Tennis and competitions programmes. Tennis Masters, which we hosted at the Lee Valley Association (LTA). From the outset, our aim Hockey and Tennis Centre. Around 3,200 people was to create a sport which is inclusive and £3 million from the All England Lawn turned out to support the best Wheelchair Tennis accessible to all people and communities. Tennis Club (AELTC), which funds players in the world – a record for the event. We began by funding and building a number our education, disability, coach And a further 200,000 tuned in on the BBC Red of Indoor Tennis Centres, which would be education, tennis development Button. It was a truly inspirational occasion. open to anyone, from any background, all year round (The majority are now part of our and competitions programmes. We’ve got a lot to look forward to in 2016. network of Community Indoor Tennis Centres). We’ll be introducing and expanding radical new Our early work also included taking tennis £0.8 million from Sport England programmes, such as Serves, which gives people into schools and providing opportunities via the LTA’s Whole Sport Plan from disadvantaged communities the confidence for disabled people to play the game. funding, which helped provide more to achieve more, both on and off the court. Then, opportunities for disabled people to of course, there’s the Paralympics in Rio, where Since then, the scale and diversity of our play tennis, as well as for students some of the elite players who have come up work has grown massively. Today we run a in higher and further education. through our talent scouting programme will have wide range of initiatives and programmes the chance to compete for gold on the world in education, in low socio-economic £0.3million from UK Sport, which stage. And this year, for the first time ever, there communities and with disabled players. funded our Wheelchair Tennis will be a singles tournament in To help us deliver our vision, we work Performance Programme, supporting Wheelchair Tennis at Wimbledon. closely with a wide range of local, regional, disabled athletes in the run-up to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. UK Sport Thank you to everyone who shares national and international partners. also granted us funds to support our goals and has helped us the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters achieve them. We’re always looking Event and international relations. for more partners to help us take our work forward. We’d love to hear from you if you’d like to get involved. £0.8 million from our dedicated funds, earmarked for our network of 53 Geoff Newton, Tennis Foundation Community Indoor Tennis Centres. Executive Director. 4 5 OUR WORK COVERS THREE MAIN AREAS: WHAT WE DO AND 1 WHY WE DO IT TENNIS ANY SCHOOL, ANY COLLEGE, ANY UNIVERSITY We exist to create opportunities, making it possible for all types of people to pick up a racket and take up the sport. Even Tennis isn’t just a great sport. It teaches those people who never young people important life skills and can dreamt tennis was for them. help them realise their potential. That’s why And especially those who don’t we work to get as many school children normally get the chance to and students playing tennis as we can, follow their dreams. We do it by from the age of two to twenty two, in providing funding, equipment, nurseries right through to universities. training and advice both to individuals and organisations. We provide teachers with free training so they Why do we do it? Because can feel confident about delivering tennis to tennis is a great sport, yes. But their pupils, whether on a full-sized outdoor court it’s so much more than that. or with mini tennis equipment in a school hall. It’s a powerful force in people’s We supply schools with free resources and lives that can help them stretch, equipment packs containing everything grow and flourish in so many they need to put on tennis sessions. unexpected ways. It’s not just about what happens on the We help teachers offer tennis in PE lessons as court. Whatever wider potential part of the Physical Education Curriculum. someone has inside them, tennis We also provide resources to introduce tennis can help bring it out. We’ve across the curriculum, for instance using the seen it happen so many times. sport to help in geography or maths. Our new Rio 2016 resource ‘Get Set to Ace It’ is a great example of this. (These resources are focused on Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.) We help schools, colleges and universities put on extracurricular sessions, including tennis clubs and competitions. We forge links between schools, colleges and universities and local tennis facilities 6 to help bring communities together. 7 ANY BODY, ANY DISABILITY 2 Tennis really is a sport that anyone can play. It can be adapted for any level of ability, as well as for players with different disabilities. We’re 3 committed to providing opportunities for as many disabled people as ANY COMMUNITY, possible to try the game. We’re also here to help talented disabled players ANY BACKGROUND go as far as they can in the sport. We support venues and coaches who are providing opportunities Tennis has a unique power SUPPORTING THE LTA for disabled people to play tennis. to transform lives. Which is why we are determined to We encourage tennis providers take tennis to people who To promote our charitable aims even further, to make their existing sessions don’t normally get the chance we also fund a number of activites which more inclusive and accessible. to play it, or who think that are managed by the LTA. These include: We fund specific programmes tennis is not for them. Coach education for disabled people, whether they are physically impaired We support a nationwide • Tennis development have learning disabilities or are network of 53 Community Indoor Tennis Centres, • Competitions programmes visually or hearing impaired. providing funding and training • We stage world-class events for the centres to protect them nationwide and run the performance from funding pressures. programme for the country’s most talented disabled tennis We work with key partner players, including for wheelchair organisations, at a national, tennis – one of the sports at the regional and local level, to take Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. tennis into low socio-economic communities, providing mini tennis equipment and pop up courts in places where there aren’t even any tennis courts. 8 9 TEACHING LIFE SKILLS ON THE TENNIS COURT Louise Hunt started playing wheelchair tennis when she was eight. She soon became one of the Beyond the Baseline is a free programme for country’s top junior players and secondary schools. It uses tennis, and inspirational has gone on to play as an adult tennis players like Louise, to nurture pupils’ at the highest levels of the game, aspirations and put them on the path to achieving both nationally and internationally. them. The programme is a central part of our She competed in the 2012 London Tennis in Education Strategy, launched in March Paralympics and finished 2015 2015. The strategy outlines our approach to ranked number 10 in the world. We’re delivering tennis to nurseries, schools, colleges delighted that despite her busy and universities up to the end of 2018. schedule, she finds time to serve as one of the six mentors in our Beyond the Baseline programme, visiting schools to play tennis with students and to talk to them about some of the highlights – and setbacks – of her career. Deputy Head Stephen Lowe summed up the impact of Louise’s visit to his school: “Louise told a personal story that was entertaining and humbling at the same time; informative, engaging and motivational. Every member of the audience was mesmerised by what she had to say. Louise’s love of life and of sport were clear to see, her energy and determination are an example to us all. If we all modelled our own lives in just a small way on Louise’s love of life, we would be better people.” 10 11 HERE’S WHAT WE DELIVERED IN 2015: HERE’S WHAT We put in place five new regional Tennis Education WE’VE GOT Officers to coordinate our work at a local level.