Some fantastic news for Arbroath Tennis Club last month! sportscotland, the national agency for sport, has awarded the Club an £86,802 grant from their Sports Facilities Fund, towards the upgrade of our courts. This is great news!
This award is 50% of the funds that are required by the Club to upgrade to all weather courts and install floodlights. Club fundraising over the last few years plus the support of many local trusts and organisations mean that – all being well – the court upgrade will begin at the end of August.
This will mean that play will be possible at the Club throughout the year – rather than just for six or seven months that is possible at the moment. Also, they will no longer be at the mercy of the weather – with the mopping of courts being a thing of the past.
Club secretary Jan Fairlie said “This is what we have been working towards for the last few years and we are very grateful to sportscotland for this commitment to us. It shows that things at the Club are moving very much in the right direction. We still need to secure some funding but we are confident that this will be in place by the end of August. Being able to play on the courts all year round is what we need in order for the Club to grow. It will also allow us to build our coaching programme without the constant fear of disruption due to the weather.”
Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said “We are delighted to invest over £86,000 in the upgrade of the courts at Arbroath Tennis Club. We are building a world class sporting system for everyone in Scotland and this project is a great example of this and will provide a real benefit to people playing sport in the local area.”
The upgrade of the courts will be the first part of proposed improvements at the Club – with the next phase being the Clubhouse.
The Club will post more detailed information on timescales etc as they become available … in the meantime, of course, the fundraising continues. The Club would like to thank everyone who has helped – in any capacity – with the fundraising activities so far. Its looking like it will all be worth it in the end.