Medway Council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have today announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish public park tennis courts in Chatham and Gillingham.
In total, eight park tennis courts will be renovated at The Strand in Gillingham and Maidstone Road Sports Ground in Chatham, with investment of £174,158.34 helping ensure that quality facilities are available for the local community.
The project is part of a £30million nationwide investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open up the sport to many more people. This investment will see thousands of existing park tennis courts brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country through renovation works, and improved court accessibility with new gate-access technology and booking systems. More than 2500 courts have been completed so far as part of the project.
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, Medway Council and Medway Sport will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park sites. Potential activities include weekly organised Barclays Free Park Tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience where equipment is 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.
A new annual tennis pass will also be introduced, alongside pay and play and free court time to ensure that the courts are maintained at their new high standard for years to come.
All courts and sessions at both sites will be available to book online via the LTA website: https://www.lta.org.uk/play making it far easier to find and book a court or activity.
Work at both sites is starting this month and is anticipated to be completed by Spring 2025.
A great way to socialise, have fun and keep fit
Cllr Nina Gurung, Portfolio Holder for Heritage, Culture and Leisure, said: “I’m so glad that work is underway to refurbish these great facilities which again demonstrates our commitment to work together with key partners to promote sports here in Medway. I am sure our residents will welcome this news. Tennis is a great sport to play whether you’re young or old, and offers a great way to socialise, have fun and keep fit at the same time. Having good quality park courts in the heart of our communities will make these benefits so much more accessible – I think the whole project is an ace idea! ”
Scott Lloyd, LTA Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be working with Medway 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 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 Medway 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.”
ABOUT THE LTA:
The LTA is the National Governing Body of tennis in 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 want to transform communities through tennis. We work with schools, with volunteers, with coaches and with venues across the whole country. We also represent the interests of over 2,000,000 Members, playing on more than 23,000 courts. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the main cornerstones of which are the LTA’s premier grass-court events at The Queen’s Club, Nottingham and Eastbourne, leading up to The Championships, Wimbledon. For further information about the LTA and tennis in Britain, visit www.lta.org.uk or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn.