Forres Tennis Club held a free open day to encourage more people to join

A sports club welcomed over 100 people of all ages to enjoy a range of activities on its free open day.

Forres Tennis Club’s event at the Albert Street courts encouraged attendees to play while raising funds for new floodlights.

Club chairman, Owen Davidson Knight, confirmed it was a brilliant day.

He said: “We had families coming along of several generations. Tennis is an accessible sport for everyone and what we saw was people getting together and having fun.”

Families were given the opportunity to play games and get involved in tennis-related activities and circuits.

Head coach, Joe Hargreaves, and junior coaches Adam Rhind, Angus Sheldon and Daniella Lewis were on-hand to encourage attendees.

Adam said: “It was great to see so many people picking up a racket and having a go. The event helped to raise the profile of the club and we were delighted to secure some new members.”

Owen added: “We thank everyone who helped out including those who donated raffle prizes and helped with the refreshments.

“We’ve raised over £120 towards our floodlight project. Two of our courts don’t have lighting - we aim to raise the £40,000 needed to get them lit up so that we can enjoy even more tennis when the nights are dark.”

Head coach Joe Hargreaves was delighted to see so many people getting involved on the open day.

He said: “There was a great buzz throughout the day and all four courts were constantly being used. There was also great feedback including new ideas for sessions.

“We run 13 sessions for adults and children but if there are other types of coaching that people want, we are happy to look into it.”

The club is looking to reach out to different local groups and offer bespoke sessions.

“We want to make the Club as accessible as possible,” finished Owen. “We are currently in the running to get some funding from the Tesco blue token scheme to offer courts for free to families in the school holidays.

“We are also seeking funding with a view to running fun fitness days with other businesses, offering tennis, yoga and other activities, and junior coach Adam wants to look at how to get more teenagers into the game.”

For more information visit https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/forrestennisclub