- A Wrexham County Borough Council and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) partnership has breathed new life into local park tennis courts.
- The project has seen £14,756.66 invested into Bellevue Park courts
- Investment comes from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation’s Park Tennis Project, being delivered by the LTA.
Wrexham County Borough Council and the LTA have worked together to refurbish the three courts at Bellevue Park as part of £14,756.66 investment to enhance tennis facilities in the borough.
The investment has seen the three courts at Bellevue Park fully repainted and gate access technology has been put in place to make it easier for players to find and book a court online, with assurance that courts will be theirs when they arrive on court.
The refurbishment comes as part of a nationwide investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish thousands of public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open up the sport to many more people. Over 1,500 courts have been transformed through the project so far.
Park tennis courts are vital in providing opportunities for children and adults to get active, delivering significant physical and mental health and wellbeing benefits to participants. Accessible facilities in parks are particularly critical to opening up the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.
Alongside the investment, Wrexham County Borough Council are also working with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park sites. This will include weekly organised free park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels, and experience, with equipment provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition.
The courts at Bellevue Park are now available to book on the LTA website, as are the courts in Acton Park.
Jonathan Miller, Health and Wellbeing lead at Wrexham Council said: “Wrexham is well known for its football, but we also have one of the largest indoor and outdoor tennis facilities in the UK, (Wrexham Tennis Centre), that often plays host to international events.
“We hope that the renovation of the Bellevue park facility will allow even more members of our community to access high quality tennis facilities, and get involved with the game.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Wrexham County Borough Council to improve their park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active. This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project, and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come. We will also be working closely with Wrexham County Borough Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court, and open up our sport to many more people.”
The LTA is the National Governing Body of tennis for Great Britain. We are here to govern and grow tennis, from grassroots participation through to the professional game. Our vision is “Tennis Opened Up” and we’re on a mission to grow tennis by making it relevant, accessible, welcoming and enjoyable. We work with schools, with volunteers, with coaches and with venues across the whole country. We also represent the interests of over 1,000,000 Members, men and women, girls and boys, playing on more than 23,000 courts. For further information about the LTA and tennis in Britain, visit www.lta.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @the_LTA.
