A regional sports club, which encourages the young and old to get active, is celebrating after receiving a fundraising boost.
Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club has received £1,000 from Persimmon Homes Durham as part of the builder’s Community Champions scheme.
The club runs sessions for juniors, adults, people with disabilities, over 50’s, girls only and people with Alzheimer’s. To give even more people access to table tennis, the club will use the money to buy a polybat set, which is specifically designed to support individuals with limited moment and / or co-ordination. More bats, balls and coaching equipment will also be purchased.
Club chairman Matt Porter said: “This funding is fantastic news for the club and helps us achieve our goal of becoming one of the best clubs in England. The news serves as recognition for the hard work our volunteers put in on a daily basis and the dedication of the coaches and of course the players.”
The Persimmon Community Champions initiative is a national programme where charities and groups can apply for funding up to the value of £1,000 to match money they have already raised themselves.
Christine Cooper, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes Durham, said: “The Community Champions scheme is a way of supporting people across every city, town and village where we work.
“We are so pleased to hand over this donation to the Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club. It seems fitting that we do all that we can to support them given how important this sports group is to so many people living across the region.”
The Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club runs it sessions from Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Centre at Bishop Barrington School on Woodhouse Lane. The club also runs satellite clubs in Newton Aycliffe, Spennymoor, Coxhoe, Barnard Castle and Shildon, along with after-school clubs at primary schools. This results in the club delivering table tennis to more than 350 people each week.
To apply for funding visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity.