Liverpool Tennis Courts Restoration Project.

Aim

Tennis is fun for players of all ages and abilities and we are looking to provide great courts that are safe, inclusive and welcoming to all

Who are we?

The Tennis section at Liverpool Cricket Club provides a vital source of physical activity and social interaction across our local community, offering access to tennis coaching, match play and social events for adults and juniors alike.  The club is sandwiched between several areas that have been identified as suffering from the worst social deprivation in the United Kingdom including Toxteth, Garston and Speke. These areas also have some of the highest rates of physical inactivity and childhood poverty in the country.  Our ambition is to encourage participation in tennis and make our sport accessible and enjoyable for our entire community, regardless of age, ability or background.

Community Impact

We currently support free coaching at 7 Liverpool schools, providing two hours weekly of on court activity for over 150 schoolchildren. This includes students at a local school who have complex learning difficulties. 

It is our intention to provide the wider community with a first class resource that can be enjoyed by all regardless of age or ability.

To achieve this aim, we must develop our facilities in the future to keep pace with modern demands and expectations, so that tennis can continue to be enjoyed year-round, rather than being constrained to a 'Summer' activity.

How our project will be United by Birmingham 2022

We plan to capitalise on the interest in sport generated by the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by encouraging and supporting those in the local community who are inspired by the Games to take up tennis.  Playing the sport offers multiple benefits to the community, including bringing people together, improving physical and mental health, getting active and the social aspects of the sport. 

As a club located right at the heart of the community we are genuinely committed to enabling and supporting all members of the local community, regardless of their diverse needs and circumstances, to actively participate in tennis, from a grass roots level to competitive play.  We hope to bring the community together, inspiring those interested in the sport, creating a legacy from the successful 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games that will live on for generations to come.

We know, having engaged with club members and the local community that providing a high quality, all year round court surface will be hugely beneficial to the community, helping to bring people together and unite those wanting to be active and play tennis in their local place and space.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Like many other local tennis clubs, we had big plans for 2022, which have been  impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and adverse weather conditions. This included the flooding and subsequent freezing of our courts, causing damage to the surface carpeting. In the run-up to the new 2023 season, we will be looking to raise funds to replace our three Astro courts so that they can continue to be enjoyed safely throughout the year.

Unfortunately, our finances have been severely damaged by the economic impact of Covid-19. The section relies on revenue from court use, social events, coaching and hospitality as its primary sources of income. The loss of social and community events has resulted in a significant drop in income with an immediate risk to our financial health.  The section has a number of annual tennis court maintenance costs to pay, together with ongoing utility bills and the costs associated with our involvement with the LTA’s Pay to Play that allows access to our courts for all.

How we’ll spend the money raised

We aim to continue with our fundraising efforts to support the essential replacement of our all-weather tennis courts, with the outstanding participation of the club's volunteers, alongside searching for matched funding from governing bodies.  However, the loss of all coaching and social revenue during the Covid pandemic means that the section needs support from crowdfunding to meet the significant restoration costs. We are proud to have responded so rapidly to the Public Health and LTA guidelines to equip the club for safe re-opening after the Covid pandemic, so that members and visitors returned to playing tennis in a secure and protected environment.

How can you play your part?

We now need the help of our members, supporters, Merseyside residents and corporate sponsors to pledge funds and secure the long-term financial health of our fantastic section. This will allow us to continue to sustain the physical and mental wellbeing of our Merseyside community.

We've prepared an exciting package of rewards to show our appreciation for your support. This includes tickets to the prestigious annual Liverpool International Tennis Tournament which is held at our club. This has previously featured Novak Djokovic, Greg Rusedski and Emma Radacanu.

We are really grateful for any contribution that people are able to make towards securing the immediate financial health of our tennis section.  By supporting the section at a time when its chief sources of revenue have significantly diminished, pledgers are helping the section to recover from the significant effects of the Covid pandemic, enabling us to resume normal operations as soon as safely possible to support the extended community in being active.  

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

1. Make a pledge and claim your reward. 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 yourself. 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 31st March 2023