The Dedanists’ Foundation Report

DEDANISTS’ By David Mills, Chairman FOUNDATION

Achievements During the Past Year

In the past twelve months we have continued to deliver our support for junior Real Tennis programmes at clubs around the country. We aim to assist clubs in the formation and delivery of their junior Tennis programmes, to attract new junior players into the game on an open access basis. As well as the support we already give to many clubs we have started this year three new initiatives at Jesmond, Oratory and The Hyde.

We are a grant giving charity (No. 1145526) whose sole aim is to increase the number of young people from all backgrounds playing Real Tennis. We are fully supported in this aim by our President and World Champion, Rob Fahey, our hard working Ambassador, Paul Weaver and our Board of Directors.

Dedanists’ Foundation Junior becomes an IIP Apprentice Professional

18 year old Alex Machin has become the second young player to join the new IIP Apprentice Professional Scheme.

As part of the Dedanists’ Foundation plan to reach out to potential new players in state schools, Dan Jones visited Edgebarrow School in Crowthorne, Berks. Dan offered four juniors a chance to try out Real Tennis at The Wellington Club with the cost of coaching and courts covered by The Foundation.

Alex, who was 15 years old at the time, was one of that group and took to the game of Real Tennis immediately. Further sponsored coaching followed which has now led to his successful application to become an apprentice Real Tennis professional under the IIP Scheme. He will take up his new position on the 25th August at the Wellington Club.

National Under 18 Handicap Singles 2020

The National U18 Handicap Singles Tournament, sponsored by The Dedanists’ Foundation, took place at the Wellington Club. As usual the event was run in two sections by handicap with the “B” grade on 12th December 2020. For many of these higher handicap juniors it was their first taste of playing in a tournament at a national level. The final was between two Wellington pupils, Poppy & Tanish, with Tanish winning 6/3.

The ‘A’ Grade finally took place on 5th June 2021. The trophy was presented to winner, Cesca (the first girl to ever lift the trophy) by Paul Weaver who is the Dedanists’ Foundation Ambassador and T&RA Director of Junior Tennis.

The Dedanists’ Foundation were delighted with the number of entries and particularly by the high proportion of girls playing. Dan Jones and Adam Player marked superbly throughout and the event was well attended by parents and supporters of young players.

We have produced a short booklet which will act as a guide to help those who wish to leave donations to The Dedanists’ Foundation in their will. The booklet explains how to do this and provides information such as suggested wording to make things simpler. All donations are greatly appreciated and will go towards helping us to achieve our ambition to increase the number of young people playing this great game on an open access basis.

The Peter Luck-Hille Cup 2019/20

The PLH Cup is an inter-club junior competition that encourages junior players to get involved in club matches for the first time and meet juniors from other clubs. It is aimed at the average junior player rather than elite players as these top juniors already have plenty of other junior tournaments. This season 10 clubs entered teams and the event was played on a knock-out basis for the first time. The semi-final and final were all played on 13th December 2020. Teams from RTC and Seacourt reached the final with Seacourt taking the trophy with a 2-1 victory.

Universities

We have identified University Student Real Tennis Clubs as a very effective means of recruiting new young players, and well worth our support.

We have awarded cash grants to each of the following university student clubs: Bristol, Durham, Middlesex, Exeter (who play at the Hyde and Bristol courts), Newcastle and St Andrews. We have awarded these grants on the basis that the student clubs have proper governance, elected Officers, formal University recognition and a formal relationship with their local Real Tennis club. The names of all of our Diamond and Founder Patrons appear on the new Dedanists’ Foundation Honours Board which has been erected at The Queen’s Club. It has taken pride of place on the West Court dedans wall. Our sincere thanks go out to all Patrons without whom we would not be able to carry out the important work we do for junior Real Tennis. Many thanks also to our excellent signwriter Chris Taylor, together with Andrew Lowenthal, Ross Niland and Simon Mansfield from The Queen’s Club.

Dedanists’ Foundation Honours Board Installed at The Queen’s Club

Our Recent Grants

The Dedanists’ Foundation has recently donated £5,000 to The Hyde Real Tennis Club to help them purchase their court from the landlord, The West Dorset Trust. The Hyde also received £500 towards recruitment of juniors from local state schools in their area.

Elsewhere, we have committed to a one year financial package to support Levi Gale at The Oratory and Zak Eadle at Jesmond Dene. We have awarded £1500 to each club to enhance the remuneration package of their young professionals and for the development of their junior Real Tennis sections. This will be done in partnership with the T&RA and The Dedanists’ Society.

How Do I Become A Patron or Make A Donation?

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Founder Patrons who have between them raised a considerable amount of money which we use to fund all of our projects. In order to carry on with the good work we are doing the Charity always needs to secure further donations. Up until now there has only been a single option for potential donors which was to become a Founder Patron of the Foundation. Now we are pleased to announce that in future there will be a new category of Patron for the Charity, namely Diamond Patrons. If you would like to become a Founder Patron or a Diamond Patron to help us continue with this good work please email one of the following:-

David Mills, Chairman dsmills1949@gmail.com To make a donation please go to the ‘DONATION’ tab Josh Farrall, Director josh@dedanistsfoundation.org on our website:Paul Weaver, Ambassador pweaver@btopenworld.com www.dedanistsfoundation.org