BUBWITH Tennis Club is celebrating after raising £1,600 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance with a 24-hour tennis marathon.

Seventy-nine participants aged from five to 86 helped raise the club-record figure, which was more than triple Bubwith's previous best tally.

Starting at noon on Saturday, June 19 were activities including junior coaching, a doubles tournament and a 'Drill Tennis' session after a few hardy souls had braved the early-morning rain on Sunday. To round proceedings off, Bubwith edged out David Lloyd York in a National Premier League fixture.

In total, 139 individual hours of tennis were racked up.

Money raised from catering, a raffle featuring a Wimbledon 2020 towel donated by the All-England Tennis Club plus additional prizes from club sponsors The Jug & Bottle, and support from The White Swan pub all helped boost the coffers.

Presenting the cheque on behalf of the club to Keiron Hardwick, East Yorkshire community fundraiser for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, was Lynne Marriage, who raised the most sponsorship out of all of the 79 participants, along with Lizanne Southworth, who was a part of the organising committee.

“It was a brilliant 24 hours and really showed Bubwith Tennis Club at its best," Lynne commented. "We had an amazing time, and it was great to see so many people join together in support of the club and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which is a charity close to many people’s hearts in this area”.

Kieron added: “We would like to thank Bubwith Tennis Club for their incredible support and generosity and congratulate them on completing their phenomenal tennis marathon.

"It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and the £1,600 will help tremendously towards our vital funding and enable us to continue our lifesaving work across the region.”

A further £120 was collected in donation buckets in addition to a separate £100 charity cheque.