Awards for All

 

Awards for All grant on the table for Cramlington Club

On 24 October 2005 it was announced by Awards for All, a joint National Lottery programme, that the Club had been awarded £4,996 towards costs for tutor, coach and assessment fees and additional equipment.

A major part of the development strategy of Cramlington Table Tennis Club is to give younger people within the area an opportunity to play table tennis and this award will help the Club towards achieving this aim.

Cramlington Table Tennis Club meets on Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings at the Sporting Club Cramlington, Cramlington High School. On Friday evenings they hold their open Club night when anyone interested in trying out the sport is encouraged to come along from 7.00 to 9.00pm. Children from the age of 8 years are welcome and coaching is available to ensure that these youngsters get a good grounding in the basics of the game. Part of the grant from Awards for All will help towards the cost of a tutor, premises and coaching manuals to enable around a dozen of our members to attain a level 2 ETTA (English Table Tennis Association) coaching qualification. The Club is planning to hold the coaches course over two consecutive Sundays in January 2006. The skill acquired by the newly qualified coaches will greatly enhance the level of coaching available on Friday evenings, benefit the children coming and allow the club to take cater for more children.

The remainder of the grant will be used to purchase 6 new tables, new bats, a plentiful supply of balls and allow us to upgrade our Robots which are a popular and useful tool that improve a players consistency of stroke play. With the additional equipment provided by the Awards for All grant Cramlington Table Tennis Club will be able to cater for more people on Friday evenings and invites anyone, adults or children, who is interested in trying out the sport, to come along on any Friday evening. Although the Club has a number girls and women members it is keen to increase the numbers in this area.

The invitation to come and try extends not only to those living in Cramlington but also to those in the neighbouring towns and villages. Currently we have members travelling in from Blyth, Bedlington, Morpeth, Gosforth, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Wallsend and various parts of Newcastle and Gateshead.

CTTC have received 2 previous grants from Awards for all - in February 2000 and May 2002.

In February 2000 the National Lottery funded Awards for All programme awarded Cramlington Table Tennis Club a grant of £5,000 to purchase new equipment and provide additional sessions to encourage increased participation in the sport. At that time the Club owned 6 Butterfly Match Rollaway tables, had a membership of around 25 and entered 5 teams in the Northumbria league.

The grant enabled the Club to purchase a further 6 tables and pay for additional coaching sessions. The additional table time now available encouraged more younger players and adults to join the club. Membership now stands at just above the 50 mark and 8 Cramlington teams compete in the Northumbria Table Tennis League.

In September 2002 the gym at Cramlington Community High School where CTTC have played league games (on Mondays) and held their club night (on Thursdays) was no longer available as a new Sports Centre was be opened to cater for school and community use. (For more detail on the new premises see Cramlington Sporting Club's website ).

CTTC moved to the new premises where they obtained access to increased storage and playing facilities. The target was to double the membership by introducing the game to more younger people. From September the 8 tables used on Thursday evenings was increased to 16 giving more people more opportunity to play and enjoy the sport. This was only achieved with the assistance of a further grant from Awards for All in May 2002.

In May 2002 the Club was pleased to announce that the Awards for All programme has recognised the good work being done at Cramlington and in May 2002 have awarded the Club £4,997 for 8 new tables, post and net sets, scoring machines, butterfly surrounds, bats, balls, premises hire for taster sessions and open sessions and publicity materials.

CTTC are grateful to Awards for All for their financial assistance in developing table tennis and the Club within Cramlington and surrounding areas.