Play out this summer with free tennis in Ramsbottom and Prestwich

I Will If You Will (IWIYW), the Bury-based fitness movement, is supporting an upcoming weekend of free tennis for the whole family.

On Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 July, the Great British Tennis Weekend (GBTW) comes to Bury in two park spaces – Nuttall Park in Ramsbottom (Saturday) and St Mary’s Park, Prestwich (Sunday).

Both open days take place from 2.30pm until 4.30pm and it’s completely free to give tennis a try. Families are the focus of the open days and there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to give the sport a whirl, plus racquets and balls are provided.

The GBTWs are part of a Family Tennis programme being delivered in Nuttall Park and St Mary’s Park until October in association with IWIYW.

Taking place on the same days and times as the GBTWs, Family Tennis will be delivered weekly until early October and families can book their place online.

Samuel Foakes, Regional Tennis Participation Manager at the LTA, said: "We’re really excited about these Great British Tennis Weekends as they form part of a wider tennis offer for families in Bury.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve never played before or you’re a tennis regular – these open days are all about giving tennis a try and there’s something for everyone.

“I hope families take the opportunity to take part in these events, hot on the heels of our British tennis stars who’ve been so successful already this summer."

Pritesh Patel, Operations Programme Manager at IWIYW, said: “Family Tennis and the GBTWs have been scheduled in response to demand for tennis at these times and we hope our programme of activity helps the families of Bury embrace a new sport for the summer.”

Great British Tennis Weekends are the brainchild of The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and, in 2015, almost 2,000 GBTW events took place at over 1,000 venues nationwide.

To find out more about tennis in Bury, please visit: www.iwillifyouwill.co.uk/find-an-activity/a-z/tennis

ENDS

Press release issued: 25 July 2016.

Note to editors:

About I Will If You Will:

I Will If You Will is focused on changing women’s and girls’ behaviours towards taking part in sport and physical activity with the aim of getting more women and girls being more active, more often, and helping improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bury.

It aims to overcome the many practical and emotional barriers to being active, while encouraging women to support each other by joining the I Will If You Will community.

The phase one campaign (2013 – 14) was delivered by Bury Council with £2.3 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England.For the phase two campaign (2015 – 16), Sport England has allocated a further £2 million to extend delivery.

The successful IWIYW pilot campaign identified valuable insight and helped develop the foundations for Sport England’s national This Girl Can campaign, which launched in January 2015, as well as Sport England’s practical guide to helping women and girls get active (www.sportengland.org/womenandgirls).