A BANGOR Tennis Club member has been awarded a prestigious LTA Award for her working in boosting membership and tennis participation at the club.

Susie Griffiths’ work at Bangor Tennis clubs has seen the membership increase from 60 members to 200 members, while she has also raised thousands of pounds by introducing a ‘play as you pay’ scheme.

Griffiths, 61, was also influential in setting up Rhosneigr Tennis Club in Anglesey, which has already built up a membership of over 100 people despite only being formed last spring.

She was announced the winner of the Volunteer Award by Annabel Croft at a live-streamed awards ceremony presented by Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith last week and said: “It was a bit of a surprise. You don’t do this stuff for awards.

“It was a surprise to be nominated and it was a surprise to win the Tennis Wales award, and to go on to the national one was a bit surreal.

“It is really hard to describe how it felt. It was amazing, and lovely to be with other members of the family to share it.”

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The LTA Tennis Awards are now in their seventh year and celebrate the achievements and contributions of outstanding tennis volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players across the country.

Griffths was hand-picked as one of 16 national winners recognised at the awards ceremony last Thursday, which honoured individuals involved in tennis at grassroots, county, regional and national level.

Nominations were drawn from more than 25,000 volunteers, nearly 5,000 coaches and 1,000 officials, 22,000 schools, nearly 3,000 clubs and in excess of 9,000 LTA approved tournaments, with Griffiths recognised for her tireless efforts

As well as boosting participation at both clubs, Griffiths acts as a friendly face to all new members at Rhosneigr and helped secure vital funding to help refurbish a previously neglected court.

The quality and quantity of the nominations demonstrate outstanding work that has been done in tennis through the pandemic.

David Rawlinson, LTA President, said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that make our sport thrive.

“They celebrate the achievements made by outstanding volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players, who are all vital in helping us to grow the game.

“The past year has been challenging for everyone, but to see the tremendous positive contributions the nominees have made to the sport and to their communities has been tremendously uplifting.”

To find out more information about the LTA Tennis Awards or for information on how to play, coach, volunteer or officiate in tennis, head to: www.lta.org.uk.