 Elaine Paige, (photograph David Venni) | As we head towards the end of yet another busy year, I am heartened to see that grant applications to The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust (DMTT) keep rolling in! It’s so wonderful to see the continued interest and development of the sport but that does of course mean demands on DMTT funds are ever increasing! We have had a record amount allocated in grants this year and next year looks set to be more of the same!
I had an amazing day at the Friends of Israel Charity Day at Queen’s Club. This was the 10th Charity Tennis Tournament organised by the Friends of Israel Sport Centre for the Disabled (FISCD) and each year they very kindly contribute a donation to DMTT. We are delighted to help secure some of the wheelchair tennis players we’ve supported to participate in the event which includes a wheelchair tennis demonstration, an able-bodied event – which my partner and I took part in – and a ‘one-up, one-down’ mixed competition where able bodied players partner the wheelchair players. It was such great fun!
Please do remember The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust when you are considering your charities to support, whether that’s at work, at your tennis club, personal donations or even in your will, there’s so many ways you can help this wonderful charity and no amount is too small – or too great for that matter! And quite honestly, one of the simplest ways to raise funds – and it literally costs you nothing – is so sign up to one of the online websites where you simply do your online shopping as usual but a percentage of your purchase is donated to DMTT – it couldn’t be easier! And with the amount of online shopping most of us are likely to do in the run up to Christmas, this could prove a great boost to our fundraising efforts!
Take care
Elaine x
Elaine Paige, OBE, President |  Alex Krol and Kevin Drake | GOLD MEDAL SUCCESS AT INVICTUS GAMES Alex Krol and Kevin Drake won gold in the wheelchair tennis doubles event at the recent Invictus Games in Toronto. Another UK pairing, Kirk Hughes and Cornelia Oosthuizen took bronze in the 3-day competition. Both Alex and Kevin are recipients of funding from DMTT and Kevin was playing at the Games in his wheelchair funded by DMTT where they beat New Zealand in the final 6-4. Alex received a grant of £300 for coaching and Kevin had a grant towards a bespoke wheelchair. Alex was injured in 2005 in a road traffic accident whilst on duty, which resulted in the end of his military career with the Royal Marines. He sustained a spinal injury (T4 Complete) and has no movement or sensation below his chest, and is now a full-time wheelchair user. For him, being selected for the Games is a vital part of his recovery: “Sport was always a major part of my life and after my accident I was determined to continue and not let my injury stop me. I see the Games as being a crucial part in this stage of my recovery. Being selected for the 2017 UK Team will give me the drive and confidence to pursue my sport at a competitive level.” It was four years ago when Kevin was seriously wounded in a bomb incident in Afghanistan. After a long haul of operations and treatment, Kevin had to have his left leg amputated last year, despite efforts by doctors to save it. He said “The Invictus Games have definitely given me something to focus on. I started playing wheelchair tennis three years ago and I immediately fell in love with the sport” Kevin became a bit of a social media sensation earlier this year when both Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal signed his prosthetic leg at Wimbledon. | SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUCCESS - York Disability Network The UK's top disability sporting event took place in Sheffield in August, with more than 2,600 athletes competing across 20 events. Competitors took part from all over the UK - with a small delegation all the way from Australia - and thousands of friends and family members joined to watch the action at The Special Olympics National Games. Within the throng of competitors were four athletes from the York Disability Tennis Network: Laura Campbell, William Farrow, Cameron Long and Matthew Brough. All four had received individual coaching grants from DMTT and their Coach, Andy Crockett told us how important the grants had been: “The DMTT grants proved to be invaluable in Sheffield. All four of them worked so hard, especially in the fortnight leading up to the Games, and the results of your grant and their hard work speaks for itself! We at York Disability Tennis Network are so proud of them all but we also recognise that with the help of DMTT and the Tennis Foundation, their results would have been so much harder to achieve.” Here’s their results: Laura Campbell Gold Ladies Singles
William Farrow Gold Mens Singles
Cameron Long Silver Mens Singles
Matthew Brough Bronze Mens Singles Laura & Matthew Gold Mixed Doubles
William & Cameron Gold Mens Doubles Congratulations to them all! |  Zak receives the Fair Play Award | MORE SUMMER SUCCESS FOR ZAK CORBISHLEY We received an impressive update on one of our grant recipients, Zak Corbishley, sent in from his very proud mum, Dawn. “I thought you would like an update on Zak’s performance over the summer holidays, where he won gold at the Shrewsbury Tournament in August. He then went on to have his name pulled out of the hat to read the Athletes Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 School Games in Loughborough. He was joined on stage by three fellow wheelchair tennis players to deliver his lines in front of 1,600 fellow athletes, as well as volunteers, coaches and officials! And to top that he was awarded the 2017 School Games Fair Play award for wheelchair tennis.” Congratulations Zak and good luck for the Nationals in December! | CASE STUDY FUN FOR ALL AT DEAF TENNIS FAMILY FUN DAY! Howes Primary School in Coventry has a Hearing Impaired Unit as part of the inclusive school and started running a deaf tennis club as a result of a lack of sporting opportunities for deaf children in Coventry. The aim was to give deaf children the opportunity to participate in sport and to help them to develop an interest in tennis. Staff initially attended Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE training and the Tennis Foundation’s inclusive tennis training. This gave them the confidence to set up and run the club. The Tennis Foundation provided a starter pack of inclusive tennis equipment which also helped enormously. The club has now been running every week for over a year and regularly has 100% attendance. The club sessions are supported by Year 6 Sports Leaders who have planned and led activities. One Year 3 deaf pupil has started to help sign the sessions and he now has an interest in coaching when he is older. The children in the club are currently working towards their mini red certificates. To celebrate the work of the deaf tennis club and to give more children the opportunity to have a taster day of tennis, the club decided to run a Deaf Tennis Family Fun Day they targeted all deaf children in the West Midlands and Warwickshire to attend. The club also encouraged families to get involved so that they could see the enjoyment their children got out of tennis. This was done specifically as it was felt this would encourage them to help their children continue playing tennis at home. After receiving funding from the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, the club was able to get on with arranging the day. They were supported by specialist coaches from David Lloyd, Coventry City Football Club, Year 6 Sports Leaders and the Tennis Foundation. Children started the day by designing their own tennis t-shirt to wear at the event. After a whole group warm-up, the children split into small groups and moved around a carousel of activities including forehand, backhand and volley drills, serving into an inflatable goal and core strength and stability exercises. All children and families enjoyed a Wimbledon-style picnic together including strawberries and fruit punch. After this they watched the coaches play in a very exciting match and then ended the day with some more whole group tennis activities. At the end of the day, children were awarded with certificates, wrist bands and pens. All children and their families had a fantastic day. The club says this has led to increased enjoyment of and interest in tennis. Some of the families have since registered their children at tennis clubs outside school so that their children can participate in more tennis. There’s no doubt a lot of fun was had by all and DMTT was delighted to be able to support this event. | HOW TO DONATE MONEY WITHOUT IT COSTING YOU A PENNY! As our President mentioned in her intro, DMTT is signed up to online charity fundraising sites that enable you to help raise funds for us for FREE when you do your shopping online. The sites are funded by partner retailers and enable you to support us when shopping via the site. It doesn’t cost you any more than the purchases you would have made anyway and you may even save money as you are rewarded with the most up to date discount codes, daily deals and promotional offers. A percentage of the money you spend with a partner retailer via one of the sites below, is then awarded to DMTT – it’s that simple! So whatever and whenever you're planning to spend online, we think there’s a very good chance the retailer will be signed up to the online charity fund-raising sites, making it easy for your to donate without it costing you a penny! Retailing partners includes thousands of household names including Amazon, John Lewis, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Selfridges, Crew Clothing, Argos, Boden, House of Fraser, Ticketmaster, Boots, B&Q – the list goes on! www.givingabit.com
www.easyfundraising.org.uk | DIARY DATE DMTT Golf Challenge – Wednesday 2nd May 2018 Moving to a new home in 2018, the hugely successful DMTT Golf Challenge will take place at the Ashridge Golf Club in Little Gaddesdon on the border of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, the course measures 6,678 yards and with a par of 72. http://www.ashridgegolfclub.ltd.uk/ Save the date and more information will be available soon! | LOUISE HUNT ANNOUNCED AS NEW AMBASSADOR DMTT is delighted to announce the appointment of international wheelchair tennis player Louise Hunt in the role of Ambassador for the trust. Louise is a full time athlete and lives in Wanborough in Wiltshire. Spina Bifida has never stopped her participating in a whole range of sports although tennis is clearly her real passion. A lifelong dream came true in 2012 when she competed in the London Paralympic Games and again in Rio where she achieved her highest ranking to date of number 10 in the world. Louise’s first official duty for DMTT will be to represent the trust and present Awards at the Gloucestershire LTA Annual General Meeting in early December. STOP PRESS - Keith Thom, a long time supporter and fundraiser from the Trust in Dalbeattie, Scotland, has also become an official Ambassador | CONVINCING WIN FOR CARDIFF IN GLOUCESTER Congratulations to the team from Cardiff who were convincing winners in the National Finals of both the singles and doubles events of the 2017 Dan Maskell Team Tennis competition, which took place at the Oxstalls Tennis Centre in Gloucester over the weekend of 14th and 15th October. Cardiff’s Tony Heslop, Tony Tibbs, Martin French and Kevin Lewis lost only two matches in the Finals of the singles and won all of their doubles matches against fellow Finalist teams from Gosling, Loughborough and Warwick. All four teams did extremely well and one of the highlights were the performances of two juniors Dahnon Ward, aged 12 and Abbie Breakwell aged 14, both playing in the Loughborough team – potential rising stars for the future! Now in its third year, the DMTT Team Tennis Event for Wheelchair Tennis Players gives recreational tennis players a chance to play in a national competition. Of the 18 players in the National Finals, over half have received support from DMTT. DMTT was also pleased to be able to offer this event as a pilot study venue to the International Tennis Federation who are undertaking a major review of the Classification System of Wheelchair Tennis to ensure fairness and equality within the sport. | BACK THE BRITS AT THE NEC WHEELCHAIR TENNIS MASTERS! Loughborough University, 29 November – 3 December Don’t miss your chance to see the best wheelchair tennis players on the planet in action at the NEC Masters! Taking place from 29 November – 3 December at Loughborough University Tennis Centre, the event will feature British stars Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid, Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne among a whole host of international Paralympic medallists and Grand Slam champions. Alongside the world class on court action, there is also a dedicated NEC Masters Activity Zone, full of tennis activities for all ages to have a go at, making it a great family day out! The event will be streamed live and is organised by the Tennis Foundation, with it being used as a platform to promote tennis as an inclusive and accessible sport. If you want to be there to see the action in person you can secure your tickets today at www.wheelchairtennismasters.com | FORTHCOMING EVENTS 14-18 November
Bath Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament (ITF 1)
University of Bath, Bath
29 Nov – 3 December
NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters
8 – 10 December
Wheelchair Nationals and National Series Finals
The Shrewsbury Club, Shrewsbury | GET YOUR FREE FUNDRAISING PACK FOR YOUR 2018 EVENTS We very much hope you have been inspired to give some serious thought to running an event at your club to raise funds for our charity. To help you with all your efforts, we have produced an a fab fundraising pack that includes template posters, balloons, collection box, sponsorship forms, indeed everything we think you’ll need to help you help us! If you would like to order a FREE fundraising pack, please email us with details of your event to danmaskell@sportwins.co.uk | We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust Newsletter Contact Details Telephone 01737 831 707 - E: danmaskell@sportwins.co.uk W: www.danmaskelltennistrust.org.uk Charity No. 1133589 Summer 2017 Newsletter compiled by Gill Perkins, LSPR Communications and produced by Gilly English, Executive Director President: Elaine Paige OBE Hon Vice-President: John Barrett MBE Chairman: Sue Wolstenholme OBE | |
