Funding Opportunities for Open Court

The Dan Maskell Trust - Grant application deadline - 1st Feb '26

Dan Maskell Tennis Trust is a tennis charity raising funds for people with disabilities who play tennis.

Formed in 1997 and named after the late Dan Maskell “The Voice of Wimbledon” who was passionate about rehabilitation through sport.

Tennis is great fun for all, whether playing socially with friends or at an elite level. It truly is a sport that can be enjoyed regardless of age or ability. What is exciting and of special interest to us, is that tennis is also highly accessible to disabled people.

We specialise in supporting disabled people and disability tennis programmes. Over the years, we have helped hundreds of individuals, clubs and groups to access and provide tennis for disabled people.

We do this by providing Specialist Wheelchairs, Tennis Equipment and Grants.

How to apply

Avon Tennis supports your application for a grant, please read the below tips when applying for funding.

Click Here to access the application details

and here for the form

- Be clear in the application what activity will actually take place and for whom (we don't need them to spend a long time telling us how sport benefits those with a disability - we already very much know this!!)

- Always include the name of the coach who will lead the session - we check all coaches are LTA licensed

- Give a clear breakdown of costs, eg £30 ph for coaching, £15ph for court hire, weekly hourly sessions = £45 per week x 6 months.

- Be clear in how much players pay per session - we prefer to fund sessions that charge a small amount. We strongly believe that this is the best way to build long term sustainability and ensure the sessions continue even when funding runs out. If a session is totally free, we worry that once our funding stops so will the sessions and then all of those people will no longer be able to play tennis. We see our funding as a way of subsidising sessions, especially so for disability groups which may have/require a smaller number of participants in the group.

- Read our guidance notes before applying!! This will ensure you are applying for something we will actually fund.

Help and support

If you need any help or advice please get in touch with Rachel Cockcroft, Open Court Lead on opencourt@avontennis.org.uk