{"id":356030,"date":"2025-12-18T12:24:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T12:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/356030\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T12:24:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T12:24:21","slug":"lta-and-lta-tennis-foundation-investment-delivers-social-impact-across-tennis-and-padel-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/356030\/","title":{"rendered":"LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation investment delivers social impact across tennis and padel communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Investment in high quality tennis and padel facilities by the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation is sparking a surge of community activity across the country, opening doors, energising grassroots sport, and turning local venues into vibrant year-round hubs of play and participation. <\/p>\n

A\u00a0survey of venues\u00a0who\u00a0recently\u00a0received\u00a0funding\u00a0shows the impact of targeted infrastructure investment. Modern\u00a0courts, upgraded amenities, and digital-first access are driving a surge in\u00a0new players, thriving\u00a0programmes, and stronger community connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quick Access Loans\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the ways the\u00a0LTA is\u00a0helping is through the Quick Access Loan Scheme (QAL)<\/a>, which is funded by\u00a0the LTA Tennis Foundation<\/a>. Clubs and\u00a0venues have been able to expand their facilities\u00a0and widen access\u00a0through the scheme.<\/p>\n

In 2025 the scheme committed an investment of \u00a32 million across a variety of projects including:<\/p>\n

14 covered tennis and padel courts\u00a0
\n34 floodlit tennis and padel courts\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clubs and venues taking\u00a0advantage of the scheme\u00a0continue to build on the\u00a0development of\u00a0community outreach\u00a0programmes\u00a0that\u00a0support\u00a0the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation\u2019s vision of \u2018tennis\u00a0opened\u00a0up.\u2019\u202f The aim is for tennis and padel, and the fantastic benefits they provide, to be open to as many people as possible across the whole of Britain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025-East-Grinstead-Padel-Net.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Participation Growth\u00a0<\/p>\n

This\u00a0year\u00a0venues\u00a0that received QAL\u00a0reported significant growth\u00a0in\u00a0both adult and junior memberships,\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0the impact of improved facilities on long-term engagement.<\/p>\n

On average, each venue saw:\u00a0<\/p>\n

104 new adult\u00a0members and\u00a031\u00a0new junior members.\u00a0
\n58\u00a0additional\u00a0adults and 75 juniors enjoying coaching programmes\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Venues\u00a0have also seen a rapid\u00a0expansion of\u00a0access to local communities on a pay and play basis,\u00a0which lowers costs and helps welcome\u00a0new\u00a0participants. Many\u00a0venues with no\u00a0previous\u00a0pay\u00a0and play provision\u00a0reported\u00a0hundreds of annual bookings with an average increase of 500\u00a0pay and play\u00a0non-member\u00a0bookings\u00a0per venue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tom Gibbins, Head of\u00a0Programme\u00a0and Property Strategy and Foundation Development at the\u00a0LTA:\u00a0\u201cOur investment in high-quality tennis and padel facilities is transforming communities across Britain. By creating modern, accessible places to play – from covered courts and floodlit\u00a0facilities to\u00a0revitalised\u00a0park sites and new indoor\u00a0centres\u00a0–\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0opening doors for thousands of people to get active, connect with others, and enjoy these sports year-round. These facilities are not just improving how people play;\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0strengthening local\u00a0programmes, inspiring\u00a0new players\u00a0of all ages, and ensuring that tennis and padel truly are open to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0investment\u00a0has\u00a0improved\u00a0courts\u00a0up\u00a0and down the country.\u00a0In\u00a0Sheffield,\u00a0a landmark development for community sport, health and recreation was officially unveiled in September with the opening of the new Hillsborough Park Activity Hub<\/a>,\u00a0which included new padel and tennis courts and a caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Investment in high quality tennis and padel facilities by the LTA and LTA Tennis Foundation is sparking a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,194997,85,747],"class_list":["post-356030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-investment-in-high-quality-tennis-and-padel-facilities-by-the-lta-and-lta-tennis-foundation-is-sparking-a-surge-of-community-activity-across-the-country","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}