Burnley Tennis Club Community Indoor Tennis Dream

Aim

To create an indoor tennis facility for all the community, which will provide year round playing facilities and accelerate participation

Who we are

Established in the 1930’s the club has gone from strength to strength with significant improvements to facilities over the years, open all year, the club provides tennis amenities for more than 280 members. The club has one of the youngest and most dynamic Committee’s in the country which is focused on bringing tennis to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Over the last 6 years the club has won a host of awards for its impact across the community, in 2016 the club was awarded the LTA Tennis Club of the year and crowned National Winners for the work it does to get more people playing the game.

We take tennis coaching to the local schools and parks and run lots of taster events, open days and competitions. we run a full junior and adult coaching programme with children starting from 3 years old and understand that to be successful you must be inclusive and provide a welcoming and friendly environment offering something for everyone and more. Over recent years we have developed a community tennis plan and drive our ethos of Bringing more than just tennis to the Community, providing great local facilities whilst providing an opportunity to play year-round tennis as families, couples and individuals.

What we want to do

The club set out its ambition 10 years ago to one day create a community indoor tennis facility which would be accessible to the local community and schools, tennis faces many challenges with weather and more so over the winter months, we spend lots of time running programmes and encouraging more people to play the game but the weather impacts this and unravels all the work done and progress made.

Burnley has no indoor tennis provision meaning the game is limited, with the nearest indoor courts 30 minutes’ drive, we are one of the largest and most successful clubs in the county and the town and surrounding areas have one of the best parks leagues showing just how popular the game is

We want to raise money towards helping make this a reality by creating a 2-court indoor tennis facility covering 2 of our existing courts, this will allow us to offer tennis all year round, increase opportunity, increase school delivery, run more competitions, offer more coaching, continue themed programmes all whilst getting more people active, 2 indoor tennis courts will also increase our capacity as we will have 5 courts with floodlights

Why we want to do it

Developing an indoor tennis facility will have a huge impact on helping more people get active. Instead of having to worry about sessions being cancelled all the time due to the weather we will be able to offer more, allowing people to play more than they did before in a controlled environment, creating better routines and making cancelled sessions a thing of the past.

We will run a year-round coaching programme, offer additional playing opportunities with social tennis, competitions and winter leagues. We will develop and offer a strong disability offer with a real focus on Wheelchair Tennis, we will get more people active, help foster new friendships and increase positive health outcomes.

We will work with the Local Schools, Colleges and University to develop more opportunity

The indoor tennis facility will be more sustainable as it eliminates the need for costly maintenance and repairs due to weather-related damage.

Cancelled tennis sessions due to weather have a big impact on individuals and self-employed coaches, without the ability to deliver lessons, coaches can lose out on potential income and be unable to pay for necessary expenses, building an indoor tennis facility can help to alleviate this problem by providing a safe and reliable environment that is not affected by the weather and will develop consistency and routine for others to play.

It will allow us to let the other tennis clubs who don't have any provision use the courts in order to help them keep people active whilst offering additional activities like volleyball, badminton, bowels and pickleball, which can help to increase the variety of activities available and attract a wider range of participants.

Our Community impact

We like to do things a little different and serve the community in lots of ways with our Community Impact Projects and Programmes, offering social groups like Knit & Natter, Employability Projects, Wellbeing & Mindfulness Activities all in our clubhouse, we also have a Brand new Community Garden. We run holiday programmes and are one of the leading HAF providers in the county, The aim of the Holiday Activity and Food programme is to support children to eat more healthily, be more active over the school holidays and have a greater knowledge of health and nutrition as well as be more engaged with school and other local services. We upskill local people with first aid, sports leadership and coaching courses, offer volunteering and work experience opportunities, we also run a number of programmes to get more people involved with different ways of playing like cardio tennis and short tennis. 

We actively encourage under represented groups and work with community influences to make sure we achieve all our social inclusion and diversity values.

How we’ll spend the money raised

All the money we raise will go towards helping bring this to life, it will mean we can cover 2 existing artificial grass courts with a tennis dome, the dome will be heated and have LED floodlights inside meaning tennis can be played year-round. Access grounds work will also need completing. We aim to raise £10,000 as part of our crowdfunding which will activate an additional £10,000 pledge from Sport England giving us an additional £20,000 towards an overall project cost of £252,000, an additional £30,000 from club fundraising and a quick Access Loan from the LTA as well as any other donations or funding we can secure will make up the difference to complete the project. This really is a much needed community facility 

How you can play your part

We are fundraising, applying for funding and taking out a loan in order to make this a reality but we want to borrow as little as possible, so we need EVERYONES HELP

There are five simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success! Time is ticking and we only have 1 month to achieve this

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer of rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out! People can then support our campaign by pledging to purchase something to help the fundraising targets or you can purchase membership or coaching to offer your employees as part of your own health and wellbeing objectives

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

5.  Purchase one of our rewards for yourself, a family member or employee as part of an employee reward scheme or towards your commitment to work and corporate wellness 

Not to forget our Commitment to supporting the Environment

An indoor tennis facility can be much better for the environment and keep running costs down. With no need to maintain as many outdoor courts and no risk of damage from weather, the facility can be kept running for longer with less maintenance costs. Additionally, indoor courts can be more energy efficient due to better insulation and more efficient lighting. Furthermore, indoor courts can reduce water usage compared to outdoor courts, and they can also reduce air pollution and noise due to the lack of equipment and machinery used to maintain outdoor courts. All of these factors can help keep running costs down and make an indoor tennis facility more environmentally friendly. Outdoor tennis courts often have high maintenance costs due to moss, algae, debris from trees, and other sources. This can make the courts dangerous and expensive to maintain as it requires regular cleaning and upkeep.  

The Indoor courts will be less affected by the elements, meaning less maintenance will be required, and the courts will be in better condition for longer periods of time, the courts will provide lighting that can be controlled and optimized for the best playing conditions, unlike outdoor courts where lighting is dependent on natural light and weather conditions. The courts can be open for longer hours, providing more options for people to play and practice at a time that is convenient for them.

The Indoor courts will be designed and operated in ways that minimize energy consumption, reduce the environmental impact, and support the emergency energy crisis, which can be an added benefit for people who wants to maintain an active lifestyle while being mindful of the environment.

This project successfully funded on 23rd March 2023