Beal Homes is helping to inspire hundreds of children to play tennis in Goole as part of the housebuilder’s long-term commitment to the local community.

Beal is playing a major role in the regeneration of the East Yorkshire town by creating The Greenways, Goole’s largest new housing development for decades, with an investment of £130m over the next 12 years.

Now, it has sponsored Goole Tennis Centre to inspire at least 2,000 children to take up tennis and increase participation in the sport through a two-year programme of community engagement.

Beal’s backing has already helped to encourage 1,000 youngsters from seven local primary schools to take part in tennis taster sessions at their schools before Covid-19 restrictions suspended the programme.

The sessions had to be postponed because of the pandemic but, now, as lockdown restrictions continue to be eased, Goole Tennis Centre Manager and Head Coach Steve Turnbull is encouraging those children, and many others, to take up taster and regular coaching sessions at the centre.

Steve said: “We want to inspire the younger generation to play tennis and to ensure they gain a really good first impression of the game. The support from Beal Homes is invaluable to us, as a not-for-profit organisation, and will enable us to deliver tennis to the masses.

“Through tennis you can make friends, develop new skills, keep healthy and learn valuable life skills through winning and losing on the courts.

“I started this job 15 years ago and it has been great to see the town improve and expand over the years. Beal Homes’ investment is a key part of Goole continuing to move forward.

“With such a high-quality new development Beal Homes will bring more families to the area, which means we can hopefully inspire more young people to play tennis and have active and healthy lives.”

Another success story is 18-year-old local student Matt Clegg, who received coaching at Goole Tennis Centre from the age of six and has now been awarded a tennis scholarship to complement his studies at Iowa University in the United States.

The scholarship enables Matt to play tennis for 20 hours per week, alongside his studies, opening up the potential to play at professional level in the future.

Steve said: “If young people can use tennis skills gained at Goole Tennis Centre to enhance their careers, that’s fantastic. It gives them skills they can use for the rest of their lives.”

In addition, Beal is committed to having a positive impact in the local community as The Greenways takes shape.

Beal Chief Executive Richard Beal said: “These are incredibly exciting times for Goole and we’re delighted to be playing such a significant role in its regeneration.

“The new high-quality housing we will be providing will help Goole realise its potential to become a thriving place for people to live, work and spend their leisure time.

“We’re also committed to supporting the local community at the grass roots, as shown by our partnership with Goole Tennis Centre. The programme of taster sessions and coaching will enable hundreds of children to be healthy, active and learn new sporting, social and life skills through tennis.”

The scheme is the largest residential development in the Goole area for many years and will add high-quality, contemporary homes to the local housing stock as the town enjoys an ongoing wave of investment.

Major investments in Goole include a £200m Siemens Mobility rail manufacturing facility, with enabling works now under way, and a worldwide distribution hub for Croda, which is well advanced.

The Greenways will feature Beal’s full range of house types, from starter homes to executive properties. All 50 plots made available in the first phase were reserved off plan within just three weeks and the first residents are expected to move in during the first quarter of next year.

For more information about The Greenways, click here..