WITH the All England Championships due to get under way at Wimbledon on Monday (June 27) a Droitwich mum-of-two has launched a campaign to raise £20,000 to return the tennis courts at the town’s Lido Park to their former glory.
Elaine Newman has got the crowd-funding drive under way by setting up a JustGiving page and a Facebook page and is now hoping residents, businesses and other organisations will help make the dream a reality.
Her campaign to revamp the courts, where tennis has been played since the 1920s, has been given the backing of Wychavon District Council and the authority has pledged to provide 50 per cent of the funding.
It is anticipated the cost to redo the courts will be £40,000 so she is hoping the community will help her find £20,000 with Wychavon providing the rest.
She said whilst it was good to have the courts there, their condition had been deteriorating over the last few years and, if something was not done soon, they would get into such a state they would be unusable.
“The courts have seen better days and are in great need of rejuvenation.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing to have some of the best courts in the area right on your door step to use whenever you wanted to for free?”
Lynn Stevens, Senior Parks and Greenspace Officer at Wychavon said: “We are aware the tennis courts are in need of investment, but we have to prioritise our budgets over all the parks in the district and we’ve given preference to play areas, park’s general areas such as paths and the leisure centre at this time.
“However, we’re really pleased Elaine has decided to fund-raise and if she can raise half of the money needed we should be able to restore the tennis courts to their former glory.”
Elaine, whose children are aged two and three, is planning to apply to national funding organisations to raise the cash and to hold events at the court. She is also hoping Droitwich schools will help by organising their own events, such as ‘come dressed as your favourite sports person’ dress-down days and other fund-raising activities.
And she said, with British tennis currently enjoying a resurgence, with players such as Andy Murray and Johanna Konta having success on the international stage, now was the perfect time for the project.
“Who knows, we could have a Droitwich Wimbledon champion in the future – how great would it be if the first tennis balls they ever hit were here on the Lido Park courts?”
Go to here ‘Lets play tennis in Droitwich Spa Lido Park’ for the Facebook page and click here for the crowd-funding page.
