Funding4TennisSecuring funding for grassroots tennis
Looking to improve your tennis facilities? We help clubs and councils identify funding opportunities and prepare successful grant applications for projects large and small.
Funding your community assets
From LTA-compliant court conversions to vital clubhouse roof repairs, we align your physical needs with successful grant criteria. Most tennis courts in the UK are either owned or managed by Local Authorities or by community tennis clubs, and the cost of providing a great tennis experience for all can be challenging.
Help with these costs is available though, both for clubs and Council-owned facilities.
Many grant-making bodies recognise the benefits that tennis can bring: improving physical and mental health, bringing communities together, and encouraging everyone – especially young people – to develop an active lifestyle.
New Courts
Court Resurfacing
Floodlights
Demand for tennis facilities has grown significantly in recent years. Some communities have no courts and people have to travel long distances just to have a game. In other areas, population growth has put severe pressure on the courts that are available.
Another factor in the mix is the weather: indoor courts can ensure that tennis is a year-round sport that can be enjoyed whatever the weather.
Successful applications include:
• Grants for additional tennis courts at Haslingfield LTC and at City of Peterborough Tennis Club
• Grant for a bubble for indoor courts at Riverside Tennis Club
There are many reasons for resurfacing a court. Grass courts have high maintenance costs, and access to them is weather dependent, with many un-usable from October through to May.
Other surfaces degrade with use and time. When they fall into disrepair, they can be dangerous, as well as providing a poor tennis experience with an erratic bounce.
Popular replacement surfaces include tarmac, 3G/4G, and synthetic clay.
Successful applications include:
• Grants for resurfacing tarmac courts at Cambridge LTC, Haslingfield LTC, Duxford LTC, Ely Tennis Club, amongst others.
• Grants to convert three tarmac courts to astroturf at Papworth Tennis Club.
• Grants to convert tarmac to synthetic clay for three courts at Newmarket LTC.
Floodlights are a must for maximising access to tennis courts. Without lights, tennis becomes a summer-only sport for many and excludes everyone who isn’t available during daylight hours.
Floodlight technology is changing all the time and energy efficiency is vital these days.
Floodlights are not cheap. A typical 2022 cost to upgrade floodlights for two floodlit tennis courts is in excess of £10,000. Some grant funders are willing to look at projects that will upgrade floodlit facilities, as well as projects to install floodlights for the first time.
Successful applications include:
• Grants for replacement floodlights at Ely Tennis Club, 2021, with LED lighting and poles
• Grants for new floodlights saw two courts floodlit for the first time at Duxford LTC in 2021, and a further two courts at Haslingfield LTC in 2018.
Clubhouses
Without a suitable clubhouse it can be difficult to create a tennis community. Places to store equipment, facilities such as kitchens and toilets – and somewhere to take refuge when it rains – can help to create a place where players want to spend time, join teams, take part in coaching and socialise together.
Grant funders will look kindly on applications that can show how building (or improving) a clubhouse could create better opportunities for more people to enjoy tennis.
Successful applications include:
• Grants for new clubhouses at Cambourne LTC, Haverhill Tennis Club and Wortham Tennis Club
• Grant for a clubhouse upgrade including disability access at Cambridge LTC
• Grant to resurface the car park at Cambridge LTC
To ensure that tennis is truly a sport for all – and not just those who can afford it – grants are available to provide equipment and coaching for people who might not otherwise be able to get involved.
This includes, for example, the specialist equipment and tuition needed to support disability and wheelchair tennis; coaching and facilities for children’s holiday clubs, defibrillators, and tennis courses for older players.
Successful applications include:
• Grants for coaching disadvantaged children at Cambridge LTC
• Grants for coaching children and adults at Ramsey Tennis Club and Ely Tennis Club
• Grants for coaching older adults at Cambridge LTC
• And many others!
Coaching & Equipment
Gate Access Technology
According to the Lawn Tennis Association, not knowing how they can gain access to a tennis court is one of the biggest barriers to people playing tennis.
Gate access technology can help overcome these problems, as it enables access to courts to be managed remotely, without the problems associated with padlocks and keys. It can also improve court security and deter intruders.
With this technology in place, managers can open up their courts to new and wider audiences, for more hours. They can manage bookings and court access for both club members and the public and take instant payment for court bookings.
Because this technology can extend access to many more players and maximise the use of existing courts, it meets many of the assessment criteria that grant funders use.
Padel
Padel tennis may be in its infancy in the UK, but its growing popularity suggests that it is set to become a sporting phenomenon in the next few years. The shortage of courts in the UK is one of the main barriers holding it back, and funders are keen to see more courts and more opportunities to play.
Such is demand for facilities that the forward-looking clubs and Councils that have installed them are finding they soon generate a valuable income stream that can generate a return on their investment.
Although few grants have yet been made for padel tennis, funders view it as a priority sport.
Village Halls
TBC
Zero risk for your committee
We write the bids. You win the play.
Your committee's time is better spent running the club than deciphering pages of grant guidance. We'll handle the research, paperwork and application process, making it as straightforward as possible and helping you put forward the strongest case for funding.
We'll do the hard work of finding and applying for funding, and you'll only pay if we're successful in securing a grant for your project.
Check your eligibility today
Got a project in mind? Get in touch for a free, no-obligation chat. We'll help you explore what funding might be available and whether your project could be a good fit for grant support.