Scott Lloyd, Chief Executive of the LTA, has joined leaders from more than one hundred sport and physical activity organisations in writing to the Prime Minister to urge him to ringfence funding for the recovery of the sports and activity sector.

The letter requests an urgent support package from the Government to enable the sport and activity sector to continue to provide programmes and facilities that address the health inequalities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and support the NHS.

The signatories call on the Government to deliver a “Sports Recovery Fund” at the Comprehensive Spending Review, as part of the Better Health campaign. The fund would help protect existing jobs and facilities so that the sector can:

• Support programmes and facilities that address the health inequalities highlighted by COVID-19, particularly inactivity among women, lower socio-economic groups, BAME communities and people with disabilities.
• Expand the innovations across the sector that we have seen during COVID-19 – making opportunities digital and increasing accessibility across the country.

Despite an increase in participation amongst adults over recent months tennis has been affected by a loss of income and visibility from the grass court season, a reduction in revenue and closure of some venues (including Community Indoor Tennis Centres), restrictions on tennis activity – particularly in schools, and ongoing restrictions on spectators at events. 

Tennis, along with other sports, can be an essential element of the UK’s recovery from the pandemic, not just in terms of offering improved physical wellbeing and reducing the burden on the NHS, but also through the positive impact it has on mental wellbeing for the many millions of people who play each year. The letter calls on the Government to put sport and physical wellbeing at the heart of the nation’s renewal and can be found here: https://www.ukactive.com/news/leaders-from-sport-and-physical-activity-sector-appeal-to-pm-for-urgent-funding-and-central-role-in-nations-covid-19-recovery/