Light Up Plympton's New Courts!

Aim

After last years success in refurbishing the 4 tennis courts, we are now aiming to extend playing time year round by LIGHTING THEM UP !

New court surfaces!

In 2022 Plympton Tennis Club successfully raised money to put two tennis courts back into use & refurbish the other two to a high standard. All these courts are available for community use as well as for club members. The courts now look fantastic and Pay & Play use by the community has increased. The club has now been able to:

(1) Put on FREE tennis sessions for families in the summer holidays. 

(2) In partnership with the Rees Centre, Plympton's Health and Well-Being Hub, we have set up a “Walking” Tennis Group , (fun social exercise for those not up to running on the full court). 

(3) Restart “Rusty” and beginner racquets sessions.

(4) Add an extra beginner coaching session.

(5) Regain access for wheelchair users.  

All these sessions are open to community users as well as club members. 

The Aim of our Project.

Our next major project is to put floodlights on the courts to extend their use through the Autumn and Winter into Spring. The success of this appeal will mean we can start work putting in the lights THIS YEAR.

The Lawn Tennis Association’s website explains how courts with floodlights have greater community use with opportunities for more coaching, social & competitive play. Between November and April when daylight is shorter, lighting outdoor courts adds 35% more playing time.

The club started planning for floodlights many years ago and has been slowly building up a ring-fenced fund for this purpose. With the arrival of the new courts this seemed like a good time to begin a serious campaign to raise more funds and start working on getting the lights put in. 

How our project will be “United by Birmingham 2022”. 

The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham were awesome in the way they brought the whole Commonwealth Community together across many countries and cultures.  We were inspired to raise awareness of our sport and raise money for floodlights in a much smaller but similar way. Our “Dawn ‘til Dusk” event raising money for floodlights brought members of the club and the community together. Our courts were in use literally from Dawn until Dusk and participants purchased an entry fee which included a specially designed t-shirt and this raised money for the floodlight fund.

We raised over £1300 on the day! The vibrancy and enthusiasm of the Commonwealth Games was reflected in the enthusiastic participation of people playing tennis all day.

What this Crowdfunder will support.

We are aiming to raise £34,000 in this Crowdfunder.  

This money will go towards planning & design works/surveys (bats, trees etc), putting in cable ducts on the bottom courts & remedial works to the lower bank (subsidence), installing lighting columns and power supply.

This project will dramatically affect the availability of the courts for play by the local community. Bookings are easily made online and accessed through the electronic gate system. These park courts are within the commercial and community hub of Plympton and are the only community courts in easy reach of Plympton. The club already offers relatively inexpensive coaching and playing opportunities for beginners, improvers and more experienced players and floodlights will mean an expansion of this offer. Club annual adult membership is under £100 which works out to less than £2 a week. Exercise is a proven way to benefit physical and mental health and tennis at Plympton is a cheap way to do this.

This project successfully funded on 9th March 2023