Wednesday 7 October 2015

Lawn Tennis Association

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is currently offering the following funding schemes to improve the quality and standard of tennis facilities in Great Britain with the aim of getting more people playing tennis more often.
By improving tennis facilities, the LTA hopes that there will be more opportunities to get people of all ages and abilities to both start and continue to play tennis:
Larger clubs, local authorities and educational partners in Great Britain can apply for:
o Community Tennis Fund:
o Applications in England and Wales for funding for an indoor tennis facility development - the applicant must match 50% of the funding and can apply for up to £300,000
o Applications in England and Wales may be made for floodlights, outdoor tennis facilities or a clubhouse - the applicant must provide a minimum of 25% partnership funding and can apply for a maximum of £150,000.
Funding should be used to provide larger clubs and community projects with support to build a network of accessible facilities which show the strongest potential for growth. Facilities should demonstrate the potential for sustainable participation growth for public access and community use. Priority will be given to facilities that can demonstrate an ambition to increase participation within their community by providing a detailed tennis development plan. These projects will include refurbishment and management of park/educational facilities or building new tennis facilities for community use.
LTA registered, small or medium sized clubs in Great Britain can apply for:
o Easy Access Loan Fund - loans of up to £100,000 are available. This loan funding needs to be match funded from either the club, county or an external third party. Clubs should be able to demonstrate that the facility development will retain or grow membership, that the club is sustainable, can produce a simple business plan and can meet the sinking fund requirements.

Investment will be made in the following types of project:
o Outdoor court projects.
o Floodlights.
o Cafe/social area.
o Low cost indoor courts.
Priority will be given to applications that can demonstrate the following:
o Strategic importance - an important part of project development is to match the facility development with the strategic need. Once demand has been established the facility development has to be at the heart of the plan to improve the venue and grow the game.
o A solid business and management plan - a business plan demonstrates that the facility is well organised and has strong management with aims, roles and responsibilities and action plans to make the facility sustainable in the short and long term.
o Sustainability is core to the plan - successful projects without exception are able to demonstrate financial sustainability in the short and long term. A successful facility will have financial accounts and a cashflow that match the aims of the business plan and project financial growth, to ensure that an adequate sinking fund is accumulated to cover future developments and maintenance. Facilities which have a minimum of four courts have flexibility to run a multitude of tennis activities and subsequently can generate more income.
o Long security of tenure - the most successful facilities will have long term tenure or capability of securing tenure (usually over 21 years) of their site and are able to plan for the long term with security for investments.
o Development plans - facilities that have a tennis development plan that attracts players of all ages and abilities are able to generate further income and tend to succeed over others. Having a plan for tennis development as part of the business plan is crucial to focussing on how the organisaiton will deliver the financial returns that are shown within financial projections.
o Partnerships - successful facilities will also have a range of partnerships that support the drive to maintain current memberships and attract new people to the game from the wider community. These partnerships can also provide much needed external funding opportunities for both supporting people and any future facilities improvement plans.
o Tennismark accreditation - The LTA Tennismark Accreditation scheme is becoming a quality mark for excellence in the game. Facilities that have this accreditation are recognised as having the values, good management, quality and safety that provides the type of experience that players of all ages want.
o Technical information - successful projects use a professionally qualified construction team. The LTA has a range of options to help the applicant design the facility to make sure that it meets the needs of the end user and adheres to the recommended guidelines. Projects that have already achieved the relevant planning permission are also more successful in raising external capital funding.
Funding is NOT available for:
o The purchase of land or leasing of land.
o Developments that do not meet the aims and objectives of the LTA /Tennis Scotland.
o Unsustainable projects.
o projects that have not accumulated the required Sinking Fund from previous LTA investment.
Applications to the Community Tennis Fund and the Easy Access Loan Fund may be made any time. 
Expression of Interest forms are available to complete online via the Lawn Tennis Association’s website.
Contact details for the LTA are:
The Lawn Tennis Association
The National Tennis Centre
100 Priory Lane
Roehampton
London SW15 5JQ
Email:
 FacilityFunding@lta.org.uk

(Source: GRIN)

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