New Table Tennis Club at Lower Holker Village Hall

Aim: Open a new table tennis club at Lower Holker Village Hall. This requires the purchase of tables, coaching equipment and a lighting upgrade.

Who are we?

Natland & Oxenholme Table Tennis Club (NOTTC) was founded in 1975 and will enjoy its 50th anniversary next year. We have over 50 members. It is affiliated to our National Governing Body, Table Tennis England, as a Premier Club and we are members of the Kendal & District Table Tennis League. The club is open to players of all ages and abilities. We currently play at Natland Village Hall.  We run junior and senior teams in the local Kendal District League  and we provide coaching sessions to help players improve. We also run sessions for social players and adult improvers.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Since 2021 we have steadily expanded our coaching offering to our members and the wider table tennis community. We have gone from having no coaches to now having 4 who are regularly coaching at Natland. This in turn has helped us attract new junior and adult members. However, due to the hall being a multi-user venue we are unable to expand our offer any further at Natland.

As a club we want to provide more good quality village hall table tennis centres. This Crowdfunding campaign will help us expand our geographic footprint by opening a new club in the  rural village of Cark-in-Cartmel, Cumbria, and offer additional training opportunities for existing players.

There are currently no table tennis clubs between Kendal and Ulverston (23 miles). Lower Holker Village Hall (LHVH) is well placed between these towns, in the rural village of Cark-in-Cartmel and is close to 4 local primary schools and a secondary school. It can accommodate 6 tables making it one of the largest village hall venues for table tennis in the South Lakes area.

There is not much currently on offer by way of organised indoor sport for juniors in this rural area. The new table tennis club at Lower Holker  Village Hall will be active year round and in particular through the winter months when outdoor activity may be limited. 

By forming a new club at Lower Holker Village Hall (LHVH), a satellite of NOTTC, we aim to achieve the following objectives: -

• Provide an additional venue for existing NOTTC players to practice.
• Expand the number of coached sessions we can deliver with additional mid-week and weekend sessions.
• Offer table tennis to a new group of potential players of all ages and abilities in a rural setting where few other opportunities exist – in doing so we hope to attract more women and juniors to the sport
• Provide a large venue that is suitable for running small junior tournaments and senior league matches.
• Provide a sport that is accessible in terms of location and cost

How we’ll spend the money raised

The money that you donate will go towards the purchase of 6 new tables plus a lighting upgrade for both the large and small halls. In addition we will need to purchase club equipment such as bats and balls for beginners and coaching equipment so we can provide coaching to players of all levels-beginners to aspiring elite players

Now is the perfect time to make a pledge to the project. Every donation that is made to this campaign will be doubled; this means that for every £1 donated by supporters Sport England will donate £1 up to the value of £4750. This campaign relies on our supporters to raise these funds, or we will lose it all. Once we reach our target Sport England will match it – totalling a massive £9500.

Community impact

This club will provide year round, indoor sport in the rural area of Cark where few other opportunities exist. The club will be open to people of all ages, abilities and genders. We estimate that the club will attract up to 60 regular players from the local area and beyond. 

We expect to see players from the local villages of Cark, Cartmel, Flookburgh, Ravenstown, Allithwaite and Grange-Over-Sands. In addition, we expect players who participate in weekend coaching at Natland to travel to Lower Holker for training. In our trial sessions, players travelled from Kendal, Windermere, Morecambe and Barrow.

Table tennis is one of the most adaptable and inclusive sports there is for people with all kinds of disabilities, people with any impairment can play. Playing table tennis raises the heart rate, strengthens muscles, mobilises the joints and most importantly sharpens reaction times and hand-eye co-ordination. As it is an indoor sport it can be played all year round regardless of the weather. You don’t need any specialist equipment or clothing and it is very affordable. It is a sociable game whereby people of all ages can come together. Laughter and fun are guaranteed!

How you can 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!

We understand that the cost-of-living crisis is putting pressure on household budgets at the moment but even a small donation could make a difference: -

£5 could pay for 10 training balls

£10 covers a pack of TT Kidz stickers

£15 will pay for 1 new club bat (12 are needed)

£25 could pay for a new pick-up net

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. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – 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!