THE York tennis club where the city’s Special Olympics champions Matthew Brough and Emily Clarke do much of their training is £500 better off – thanks to Tesco shoppers.
The supermarket giant chose Wigginton Tennis Club to receive one of its ‘stronger start’ awards after local shoppers voted for it using Tesco blue tokens.
The awards aim to help fund projects that ‘give children the opportunity to improve their physical health and mental wellbeing’.
Wigginton Tennis Club has about 100 adult members and 50 juniors. But it is also used by other groups – including the York Disability Tennis Network with which both Matthew and Emily train and play.
It also hosts weekly tennis sessions for a specialist youth care centre, and weekly sessions in the summer for a specialist secondary school for young people with additional needs.
The club was named ‘Yorkshire Disability Tennis Club Of The Year’ in 2021.
At last year’s Special Olympics in Berlin 21-year-old Matthew Brough, who lives with a learning disability, dyspraxia and autistic traits, won the gold medal in the men’s tennis final at Berlin’s SC Brandenburg tennis club.
Matthew and Emily Clarke, then 31, who has the genetic condition Fragile X Syndrome, also teamed up to win bronze in the mixed doubles.
Wigginton Tennis Club chairman Phil Langley said the Tesco cash would be used to buy equipment – including tennis nets, racquets and balls – for use by the club’s ‘inclusive’ teams.
He said: “Thank you to the Tesco shoppers who voted for us!”
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