Katie Boulter hosts our Walking Tennis Group at National Tennis Centre

Katie Boulter took time out from her off-season training recently to welcome members of Age UK Sutton's Walking Tennis Group, funded by the LTA Tennis Foundation, for Tea and Tennis at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. 

Katie, a three-time WTA tour winner and a key part of Great Britain’s Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup squad, visited our Walking Tennis group at Sutton Tennis and Squash Club last year, and after seeing the impact of the walking tennis sessions, arranged with the LTA Tennis Foundation for the group to visit the National Tennis Centre for ‘Tea and Tennis with Katie’. The visit combined a walking tennis session with the chance to sit down for tea with Katie to tell her about how their sessions had been going since her last visit. 

The on-court session delivered aspects of sensory tennis, including the use of scarves to get people’s hand-eye coordination going, before building up to rallying with orange balls, which bounce less than a normal tennis ball, making it easier to play. Katie played with different members of the group in rallies, including Maria, who used to play tennis when she was younger and has rekindled her passion for the sport through the sessions. 

“I love the exercise,” said Maria, “and I’ve made friends, as we have coffee then we go out on the court... I look forward to it every week.” Maria also explained why it was extra special to have a hit with Katie at the National Tennis Centre. “My first day was when Katie was there,” said Maria, talking about her first session at Age UK Sutton. “She had lunch with us and she’s such a lovely person.”    

After the session on court, the group sat down for tea and sandwiches with Katie, something which is a key aspect of their regular sessions back at Sutton. "I go every week, rain or shine, I look forward to seeing those people every week” says Derek, another member of the Age UK Sutton walking tennis group. “For that two and a half hours, we don’t feel that we’re disabled or unable to do things. My mental health has gone up, my mobility has gone up - two or three years ago, I never envisaged that I’d be able to walk properly – it's been really good for me.”  

Helena Dean, our Activities Coordinator at Age UK Sutton, spoke of just how much of an impact she’s seen on those who’ve taken part in the sessions. “It's not just the playing of the game, it's the social side of it as well. Every week, we have an hour of walking tennis, but then we do a social afterwards and everybody stays and has lunch, and it's a real community now… They’ve got additional mobility, but also now the confidence to do other things, it’s a snowball effect.” 

After the session, Katie spoke of how happy she was at having been able to invite the group to Roehampton, saying, “It’s been so great to invite Age UK Sutton down to where I train and spend a bit of time with everyone. I’m very close to my grandparents, so to give some time to Age UK is really important and to see how much of an impact it has for them just to go out and play tennis and be able to spend time with other people, it makes such a big difference.”  

We run two weekly Walking Tennis Groups every week. If you’re interested in finding out more; call us on 020 807 80002, email us at info@ageuksutton.org.uk or use our contact form here