John Sherwood

Aim

We are raising funds to refurbish 3 all weather tennis courts. The courts are currently unsafe and without funding will remain closed.

Long Riston Play and Sport Provision

The village expanded rapidly 20 years ago when 3 housing developments trebled the size of the village. The village previously raised £260 000 to improve play and sport facilities to cater for the increased population. All these facilities are now over 20 years old and in need of replacement or renovation.

Without urgent investment the facilities, including the village tennis courts will become unusable. The village Playing  Fields  Committed (PFC) have successfully raised over £130 000 over the previous two years to replace the village Playpark through a series of fund raising activities and successful grant applications. The new play park will be installed in Spring 2023. The village tennis club is now leading fund raising with support from the Playing Fields Committee to refurbish the three all weather tennis courts. These courts are a free to use community facility 

Long Riston Tennis Club

Long Riston Tennis club was established in the 1950’s. The club manages and maintains 3 all weather tennis courts in conjunction with the Long Riston Playing Fields Committee which is a registered charity.

A free to use community sports facility 

The courts are open to the public free of charge all year round. This attracts people of all ages from the local area to play tennis. There is a very active group of players that play “social” tennis on a weekly basis. For many of these players joining this group has given them their first opportunity to play tennis and develop a more active lifestyle. The club currently has 3 teams, with approximately 50 players who compete in the Driffield Lawn Tennis League. Matches are played over 3 evenings a week with teams travelling from across Holderness to play.

Promoting healthy lifestyles

The courts provide a valuable facility within Long Riston and for surrounding villages that promotes physical activity for adults and children. The courts are adjacent to the village primary school which has expanded significantly in recent years as the village as grown. A programme of building work at the has left the school with very little outdoor space. As a result the all weather tennis courts are used on a daily basis for physical activity by children attending the school. In addition the courts are used for summer coaching sessions for children in Long Riston and surrounding villages. This is particularly effective in promoting sport and physical activity in Mid Holderness villages which are poorly served by public transport and therefore relatively isolated communities. As such the tennis courts are a valuable community resource in promoting healthy lifestyles amongst children in Long Riston and Arnold and the surrounding villages of Skirlaugh, Leven, Withernwick, Hatfield and Routh.

Why we need your help?

In the past the Long Riston Tennis club have fully funded the maintenance of the courts with fund raising events and match subscriptions from players. This funding stream has been hindered by COVID restrictions in the last 2 years. As a result the tennis club do not currently have the funds to have the courts cleaned, moss treated and painted with specialist anti slip paint.

The courts cannot currently be used as the surface is slippery and dangerous. The image below shows the current dangerous condition of the courts. If we fail to raise sufficient funds to renovate the courts then they will have to close.

How can you help?
We have been successful with an application to Sport England’s ‘Active Together’ match fund! We have been offered £2,000 towards our target, so we must raise £3,000 of our target ourselves and crucially achieve at least 25 unique supporters. Therefore, please do share our campaign with all of your friends, family, work colleagues and neighbours!

Who is supporting our campaign?

The campaign is  being supported by Long Riston Playing Fields Committee. The Playing Fields Committee is a registered charity with the purpose of raising funds to help maintain and enhance play and sport facilities on Long Riston Playing Fields. The scheme is also being supported by local businesses and individuals who have pledged some fantastic rewards to attract donations and help raise the funds to renovate the courts. Several local businesses have also shown an interest in making a financial donation to our cause.

Aiming higher!

If we hit our £5000 target within our 4 week campaign we can stretch the target to £6000 If successful the extra funding will be used to buy new nets, repairs to fencing and to support summer coaching for children.

How can you play your part?

There are four 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!

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 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!

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!

This project successfully funded on 1st March 2023