Tennis Volunteer Community comes together at the National Tennis Centre
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On Sunday 28 September around 70 volunteers from venues across Britain gathered at the NTC for the Ultimate Volunteer Community Group one day event.
Organised by Simon Spalter of the Tennis Volunteer Community Facebook Group, the event allowed volunteers to hear advice and share best practice on topics such as attracting new venue members, the role of the LTA Tennis Foundation, working with coaches, and introducing pickleball to their venue.
The event allowed volunteers who normally connect via the Facebook group to meet in person, and discuss successes and issues common to venues up and down the country.
Simon Spalter, Founder of the Tennis Volunteer Community Group, said: "I loved organising and hosting the event from start to finish. Empowering volunteers to share best practice, and providing the LTA with an opportunity to outline the support they continue to provide to clubs, venues and their volunteers. I could never have imagined the depth of knowledge that venue volunteers could bring to the group when it was first started. It’s become invaluable."
Abbie Lench, Head of National Delivery for the LTA said: "We have been working closely with Simon and the group for a number of years. It’s a very useful mechanism for us to listen to volunteers concerns and questions, as well as be given the opportunity to explain what we are trying to do and why we’re trying to do it. We were delighted to host this in-person meeting at the NTC and meet many of the volunteers in person. We hope this will be the first of many such sessions to help volunteers and support the vital contribution they make to the health of the sport.”
Susan Chopra from Sutton Coldfield Tennis Club, said: “From start to finish the day was packed with great information, advice, tips, guidance and snippets we didn’t even know about! There is no substitute for face-to-face discussions, and each speaker, as well as the LTA team members, brought their individual experience and expertise and overall portrayed their sections with confidence and positivity. I found it to be very interesting and helpful day, and invaluable in connecting with other clubs and the challenges they face.”
After a Q&A with LTA colleagues and a tour of the NTC, attendees rounded off their day with some well deserved time to play tennis, padel and pickleball on the NTC’s courts.
Volunteers can access the LTA’s venue support toolkit here for advice and support on running their venue, whilst the Tennis Volunteer Community runs independently to allow volunteers to engage with each other and to share best practice. For more information on the Tennis Volunteer Community, please email tennis@eceltd.co.uk.
