Dan Maskell Tennis Trust

September 2026 Newsletter

Liz Terry — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:48:45 +0000

Our latest newsletter is out. You can read it here.

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Spotlight on our Ambassador Abbie Breakwell

Liz Terry — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:05:20 +0000

We’re pleased to share a new short film created for our Ambassador, Abbie Breakwell. Abbie Breakwell: Wheels of Steel was produced as part of Women’s Sport Trust’s Unlocked athlete leadership development programme, of which Abbie is part of the current cohort. Earlier this year, athletes were invited to pitch their stories, and Abbie’s was selected. The film was recently shot by Barn Media on site at Loughborough University.

Unlocked supports elite female athletes to use their stories, experiences and voices to influence positive change. Abbie’s pitch stood out for its honesty, ambition and the powerful message she wanted to share about inclusion in education and sport.

Living with Charcot‑Marie‑Tooth disease, a progressive muscle‑wasting condition, Abbie was often told she could not take part in PE because of her disability. At secondary school, her lessons initially involved watching others or helping with timekeeping, despite her love of sport.

Everything changed when two PE teachers took the time to listen, learn and adapt activities around her needs. With the right support, Abbie discovered that her disability did not have to limit her ambitions. She went on to pursue wheelchair tennis, qualify for the Paralympics and graduate from Loughborough University.

Today, Abbie is determined to make sure other young people have the opportunities she had to fight for. She is passionate about making education more accessible and ensuring sport offers more ways for everyone to take part. As she says, there is always a way – sometimes it just takes the right people to help find it.

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Tribute to Ian Peacock OBE

Liz Terry — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:34:08 +0000

The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust wishes to pay tribute to the great Ian Peacock OBE, who has sadly passed away at the age of 92.

Ian was a Trustee of the DMTT from our inception as an independent charity, later becoming our Vice President. Throughout those years, he was a tremendous supporter of disability tennis and of everyone at DMTT. He was particularly supportive of our Executive Director, Gilly, who affectionately referred to Ian as her ‘life coach’ and a great mentor.

Ian began his distinguished career with Slazenger before becoming the first-ever Chief Executive of the LTA in 1986. Until that time, the LTA had been run by its Secretary, and Ian oversaw a period of significant growth and transformation for British Tennis.

Among his many achievements, Ian established the Indoor Tennis Initiative (ITI), which proved transformational in improving access to tennis for disabled people. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Tennis in 1998 and went on to serve as President, Chairman or Chief Executive of 14 different businesses and organisations involved in sport. Remarkably, he remained President of the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) until the week of his passing.

We are immensely grateful to Ian for everything he did for British Tennis and, in particular, for his longstanding commitment to disability tennis. He leaves behind a truly distinguished legacy and will be remembered for his passion, generosity and unwavering dedication to tennis and to the many people whose lives he touched.

Our deepest condolences are with his wife, Phillipa, and his two children at this very sad time.

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Lido Park Tennis Club CP sessions

Liz Terry — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:17:26 +0000

This year we approved funding for Lido Park Tennis Club’s Cerebral Palsy Children’s Group. The group was formed after a 6year old girl with CP came to join in sessions at the Club. After chatting with her parents, Neil Bates, the Lead Coach, joined some local CP social media groups to see if there was anyone else wanting to play tennis. They now have 12 children attending regularly – 3 in wheelchairs and the others using walkers or more ambient. They say that at every session it feels like someone new joins in, with participants travelling in some cases over 30 miles to join in the fun!

The success of the group has also meant that alongside the coaches they now have a group of fantastic young teenage volunteers who give up their time to help on every single session. They have gained some invaluable experience which will help them in the future as they progress towards their coaching qualifications.

We really love seeing how members of this tennis club have come together so quickly to make sure there is a tennis offer for everyone in their community. We were delighted to support them with funding towards LTA licensed coaches and indoor venue hire.

If you are inspired to start an inclusive tennis session at your Club then contact the LTA who can offer you advice and contacts – and then we are there to help with funding.

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VP Virginia Wade presented with her CBE badge

Liz Terry — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:32:46 +0000

We were delighted to hear that one of our Vice Presidents, Virginia Wade was presented last week with the badge of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of services rendered to British Tennis and Charity.

Virginia was named a recipient of a CBE in His Majesty The King’s Birthday Honours 2025 and in a ceremony that took place at the British Consul General’s Residence in Manhattan was presented with her badge last week.

Virginia Wade CBE said: “I am truly delighted to receive this prestigious honour, symbolizing the love and affection I have for my country. My tennis career was highlighted annually by playing in team events representing GB for 21 years. Not only is this a reward for me, but I hope it might serve to inspire other British female athletes in their quests for success.”

We all thank Virginia for her continued support of our charity and congratulate her on this prestigious award.

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Honours for our own legends at Eastbourne Open

Liz Terry — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:47:31 +0000

On Thursday 25 June at the Eastbourne Open a very special group of people were inducted into the World Tennis Wheelchair Hall of Champions. Our very own Chairman Sue Wolstenholme OBE and Trustee Geraint Richards were honoured for having played a central role in shaping the sport.

We offer a massive congratulations to everyone inducted. Without such dedicated individuals, wheelchair tennis wouldn’t be in the amazing place it is right now.

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Wimbledon coin toss 2026

Liz Terry — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:16:05 +0000

The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust is delighted to have been asked by the Wimbledon Foundation, the official charity of The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and The Championships, to nominate an inspiring young tennis player to take part in this year’s coin toss at the wheelchair singles final. This year’s Championships will celebrate 25 years of wheelchair tennis.

We chose Leo Charlesworth-Mark (age 10) to represent us. Leo’s attitude both on and off the court exemplifies what our charity is all about, showing the positive impact tennis can have on disabled players. Leo benefited from a grant from us in 2024 when he first started playing tennis and is now part of the LTA Under-14 National Age Group Programme. We hope Leo’s story encourages more disabled people to try tennis.

The Wimbledon press release can be viewed here along with Leo’s film, featuring one of our Ambassadors Louise Hunt Skelley, former Paralympian and Wimbledon player. Jack Draper, a keen supporter of disability tennis, also makes a surprise appearance!

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/Wimbledon_Foundation_nominates_four_inspirational_young-tennis_players_for-coin_toss_ceremonies

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Dan Maskell Tennis Trust Patrons Scheme

Liz Terry — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:59:22 +0000

We are excited to announce details of our new Patrons Scheme

The purpose of introducing a Patrons Scheme is to seek regular annual income for the Trust. We are a small charity and although we have been fortunate to identify new funding streams in recent years, these cannot be guaranteed. It is therefore important for us to identify additional areas of income in order for our work to continue at its current level and to meet the increased demand for grant aid. By supporting our Patrons Scheme, you will be providing the DMTT with a guaranteed annual income and so enabling us to continue and to expand our work.

Our leaflet (link above) has further information and an online sign up, otherwise please get in touch admin@dmtt.org.uk for more information.

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Spring 2026 Newsletter

Liz Terry — Sat, 09 May 2026 06:34:40 +0000

Read all that has been happening in our latest newsletter.

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Continued funding support from the LTA Tennis Foundation

Liz Terry — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 11:10:34 +0000

We are very happy to announce that we have been awarded further funding from the LTA Tennis Foundation. The LTA Tennis Foundation had previously provided us with a 3 year grant which ran until the end of 2025. We are delighted that they have recognised the importance of our work by granting us a further two years of funding.

This funding will allow us to continue to scale up our grant aid funding programme. Last year we broke our past records, funding over £100k to disability tennis groups and individuals.

You can read more about all the charities that the LTA TF is supporting here. A massive thank you from all of us!

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2026 Wimbledon Coin Toss – Leo’s story

Liz Terry — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:04 +0000

We were delighted to nominate Leo Charlesworth-Mark to take part in The Championships, Wimbledon, coin toss at the Men’s Singles Wheelchair Final. Here we learn about Leo’s story – the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust were proud to support Leo through our grant aid funding programme in 2025.

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Coventry & North Warwickshire Tennis Club Festival

Liz Terry — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:04:03 +0000

We love that the last post of this year shows an amazing festival day we funded with Coventry & North Warwickshire Tennis Club featuring 4 Coventry Primary Schools and 58 children at the event, all with Special Education Needs. Lead coach Collen Mhlanga then delivered 10 follow up sessions which featured lots of laughter and teamwork. Playing games like “tennis tag” and “target practice”, the coaches were super supportive and made sure everyone got involved. They understand learning can be challenging, but adapted the equipment to ensure a good experience.

Most children getting to play tennis at least 4 times and some have even joined the Club. We hope that they have started a lifelong love of tennis 😍

Thanks to the members of staff from the represented schools, who were amazing, ensuring the safeguarding was maintained throughout the busy morning.

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