GIYM COMMUNITY
GIYM Community identifies areas with a specific need for support and responds with the delivery of out of school tennis programmes in the community. Coaches are paid to provide holiday camps and activities for children who have been identified as particularly vulnerable and require additional support during the school holdays.
An example of this is our Grenfell programme.
In June 2018 GIYM commenced a new programme with GLL in the heart of North Kensington, an area so tragically devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire, to help re-establish and re-energise the area by delivering tennis to local families. Based at Kensington Leisure Centre, which is just 100 yards from where the disaster struck, GIYM offers junior tennis camps during the holidays and half terms breaks.
Our teams work closely with established partners such as the Lancaster West Residents Association, the Grenfell Response Department and the Senior Communications team at RBKC for promotion, awareness and engagement with local people residing in the area affected by the Grenfell tragedy.
The tennis camps provide the children with a fun, healthy and social experience in a sport that was not currently previously being offered and Kensington Leisure Centre has created opportunities to enable the participants to continue along the tennis pathway.
Case Study
Lulu lives opposite the Grenfell Tower. Her Mum heard about the GIYM mini tennis camps through the monthly Grenfell Support Newsletters.
“The sessions at Kensington Leisure Centre are the first time Lulu has ever played tennis. It’s been great to see her learning how to play the sport. She’s always really excited and eager when the holidays are coming so she can play again.”
Lulu is now keen to start tennis sessions on a weekly basis and since she started her Mum has noticed that she is more confident and willing to give more sports a go. She now does gymnastics every week, goes swimming and her brother has signed up to play basketball at the Kensington Leisure Centre.
