Spring Newsletter 2024

Greetings from our President Elaine Paige OBE

Hello everyone,

Welcome to our Spring Newsletter for 2024. Whilst the weather hasn’t been exactly spring like, and that’s an understatement (!), if you’re a player I hope you’ve been able to enjoy tennis either indoors or out somehow or other.  Now at least we’re looking forward to the exciting summer season – fingers crossed!

I was delighted to read some of our case studies recently and was so pleased at how much of an impact our funding has made on people’s lives.  We offer four rounds of funding a year and are proud of how easy we make the process. Make sure you recommend any individuals or groups you may know to check our website for funding opportunities.

I was also very interested to read more about Para-standing tennis and look forward to seeing how this version of our great game progresses.  No doubt with the support of comedian Adam Hills, we will be hearing a lot more about Para-standing tennis in the future!

On an incredibly sad note for me personally, I was devastated to learn of the passing of my dear friend John Tucker.  John offered so much support to the Trust, and friendship to me over the years and he will be dearly missed. It was at his suggestion that I joined The Queens Club for which I am truly grateful, as it’s enhanced my life over the past 21 years.  It gives me great pleasure to announce that this year’s Golf Day fundraiser on 13^th June at the Royal Automobile Club will be held in his memory.  It was John who started the Golf Day many years ago and was instrumental in its ongoing success.  On that note, I am very much looking forward to attending the Golf Day and hope to see many of you there.

I look forward to updating you all again after a busy summer of tennis and wish you all good health and warm wishes,

With love

Elaine's website

The rise of Para Standing tennis

You may not be aware of a category of disability tennis known as ‘Para-standing’ tennis. It is for players with a physical disability who choose to play without a wheelchair. The players may have an upper or lower limb impairment or amputation, Cerebral Palsy or be of short stature. There are two classification groups with PST1 and 2 only having one bounce and PST3 and 4 having two bounces. The 2024 Para-standing Tennis World Championships will be taking place in Turin this June and are being officially supported by the ITF for the first time.

The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust is excited to be involved with this movement, working in partnership with the LTA to run a Para-standing coaching camp in late April. We have also recently received funding applications from players hoping to compete in International Events. Comedian Adam Hills from ‘The Last Leg’ is a great ambassador for the sport, producing quite a lot of social media videos and taking part in promotional events at the Australian Open. You can find out more here: https://www.parastandingtennis.com/

Disability Tennis Camps

As mentioned above, we are working with the LTA to deliver more disability tennis camps. This year we have added a Para-standing camp alongside Wheelchair, Learning Disability, Visually Impaired and Blind tennis camps. These camps offer players in each category the chance to have a full day of specialised coaching with highly trained coaches. Most coaches leading the camps have coached at International level for the GB disability squads. If you know any players who may not know about this great opportunity, please tell them to check our website and social media for more details!

King's College London event

In late March, the King’s College London Lawn Tennis Club and King’s College London Dance Society held a Trailblazing Women in Sport panel. It was held at the iconic Bush House auditorium; the former home of BBC World Services. Panelist’s from the tennis world included our own Vice-President Sam Smith and Ingrid Löfdahl Bentzer, former Swedish number one. The event also raised funds for the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, and we hope this can become an annual event.

Case studies

Recently we have updated our Case Studies section on the website with some great new personal stories of players we have helped through our grant aid funding. It is always heart-warming to read about the positive impact that tennis, and our funding, has had on someone’s life, in their own words. You can read our most recent case studies by clicking on the links; Freya Ward, just 10 years old with a visual impairment, Rae Abbott who returned to wheelchair tennis after having to give up tennis in her teens and Asher Byrne a 15 year old who has found that tennis has helped him in many ways with his Autism.

Dan Maskell Tennis Trust events 

We are excited that our two main events of the year are just around the corner. The Recreational Wheelchair Tennis Doubles event will take place on May 11 and 12 at The Shrewsbury Club. This is a fun and social weekend aimed to bring players together in a supportive environment, especially for those a bit nervous about competing in a ‘tournament’ and those who have retired from their competitive days!

Our Golf Day will be held at the Royal Automotive Club at Woodcote Park near Epsom on Thursday 13 June. We have lots of teams entered and are gathering great prizes for our fundraiser raffle with thanks to our great supporters such as: Lanson Champagne, the Wimbledon Foundation, EXEAT weekend, BAM clothing, Wilson, Lilac Tree Makes Jewellery, Epsom Golf Club and Alligator Pear (Top 5 UK Independent Gift Shop).

If you would like to enter a team or donate a prize, or attend the lunch only (and not play golf) please get in touch with Gilly ASAP.

Whitstable LTC fundraiser

A big thank you to Whitstable Lawn Tennis Club who recently held a very successful quiz night which raised £475 for the Dan Maskell Trust! Special thanks to Vanessa Oakes and all the Volunteers who ran the night who were inspired to do so after we granted them funding last year for their disability tennis programme. If your Club could run a similar fundraiser, please get in touch with Liz.

John Tucker Tribute

We were incredibly saddened to hear of tennis great John Tucker, who passed away in February. John served The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust since its inception in 1977 and became a Trustee and Vice-Chairman when the Trust became an independent charity in 2010. He was also on the LTA Council from 1977-2001 representing Essex and became an LTA Honorary Life Vice President in 2001.

John was at the forefront of indoor tennis development. His keenness and love for tennis, together with the support of his family, helped him to build his own indoor tennis centre, which was opened by the then Sports Minister, Ian McFarlane. He has been at the heart of the LTA and British tennis serving on many committees on the Development, Facilities and Technical side of the game. His knowledge and experience in these areas have been of great value to the LTA and to his county of Essex of which he was President from 2008-2014.

John was the Chairman of the Trust’s Golf Day that is run annually as the charity’s main fundraising event. It was through him that we were able to stage this at Wentworth for many years, until it was sold. Many friends and colleagues of John’s still take part and are some of our greatest supporters. It was John who persuaded Elaine Paige to become the Trust’s President and she has held that office since 2010. John was almost larger than the game itself – he was known everywhere and his kindness, generosity and down to earth approach to everything he did was appreciated by so very many people involved in the game. He will be sorely missed.

Remaining dates for 2024 Funding applications

2024 Meeting dates and application deadlines:

Meeting 3 - 13 August 2024 - applications for this meeting will close on 7 July 2024

Meeting 4 - 25 November 2024 - applications for this meeting will close on 27 October 2024