Hinckley Town Tennis Club

The video starts with the word ‘Buddle’ appearing letter by letter from left to right at the top of the screen. Each letter is a different colour which contrasts against the white background and matches a multicoloured border which is visible around the edge of the screen. Cheerful, unrecognisable, upbeat music plays in the background.

Underneath ‘Buddle’, black text fades in from left to right, reading ‘supported by’ followed by the Sport England logo. Beneath this the main title of the video fades in, it reads: ‘Connecting with your local community: Hinckley Town Tennis Club’.

As the scene changes, bars in the same colour as the ‘Buddle’ text, move across the screen, removing the writing from the screen. The upbeat music continues in the background but slows down. Dark blue text appears on the screen, it reads ‘Hinckley Town Tennis Club is a community-focussed organisation. After some of their committee members formed connections with Ukrainian refugees, the club was keen to widen their reach and support the new members of their community. We visited them to hear all about the success of the programme’. The writing fades away as the scene changes.

The next scene is an interview with Neil Roberts, the Chair of Hinckley Town Tennis Club. Neil is sitting to the left of the screen; behind him a group can be seen playing tennis. A white background with rounded edges appears containing the ‘Buddle’ logo alongside text reading ‘Neil Roberts, Chairman, Hinckley Town Tennis Club’.

This fades away as Neil says: The ethos of the club is very much being a community-focussed club and having as much outreach into the Hinckley community and beyond as possible.

While Neil is talking, the scene changes. We see a close up of the Hinckley Tennis Club logo which is attached to a tennis net. The logo includes the name of the club in red text arcing around the top of the club logo, which is two tennis rackets crossed over a red, white, and blue shield. The scene then changes to a close up of a white bucket of yellow and red tennis balls with people playing tennis in the background.

The camera then pans left to right across 3 tennis courts. People can be seen playing tennis and watching on the sidelines, and behind the court. The scene changes to a close up of a female serving and a male and female playing a rally.

As the scene changes, Laura Sysum, the Junior Secretary of the club, begins talking. The scene shows Laura to the left of the screen. To the right, some people can be seen through the window watching others play tennis. Underneath Laura, against a white background with rounded edges, the ‘Buddle’ logo appears alongside text reading ‘Laura Sysum, Junior Secretary, Hinckley Town Tennis Club’.

Laura says: We had Ukrainian refugees join our school at the start of last year. They settled in very quickly, were absolutely amazing and were very enthusiastic, getting involved in everything in school life, and it was just wonderful to see their growth really.

The scene changes to a female playing tennis. This is followed by a scene of Laura, Neil, Eugene other members of the club talking and laughing together on the court with people playing tennis in the background. It then goes back to showing Laura sitting indoors talking to camera.

Laura goes on to say: When Neil, our chairman, mentioned to me that he’d been in touch with Eugene from the local authority and we were setting up a community session where we could invite many more of the local new Ukrainian community down, it was something I really wanted to be involved in.

The scene switches to a blurred shot of the clubhouse. The word ‘Benefits’ appears in the middle of the screen in bold white text.

Neil can be heard saying: The benefits of the club have been massive. Some of our juniors who’ve been assisting with those squads have been able to learn some skills, because obviously there’s a language aspect of it. They can demonstrate how to play tennis, how to learn tennis, with some of those language difficulties.

As members of the committee, it’s just been very fulfilling for us to see some of the positive feedback we’ve had from the community about what we’ve been able to put on.

As Neil Is speaking, the background changes to play a range of short clips of adults and children and young people playing tennis and talking. As they play, a turquoise-coloured box appears on the right of the screen. It contains icons and white text which reads, ‘Form friendships. Learn new skills. Develop communication and coaching, and positive community feedback’.

The scene changes to a girl and a boy playing tennis together, some cars and another person playing tennis are visible in the background. The image blurs and white writing reading ‘Community focus’ appears in the middle of the screen. The camera returns back to Laura, she’s sitting to the left of the screen, talking to the camera. Some spectators are visible through the window.

Laura says: Welcoming people from outside of our local community to encourage them to feel more at home and to have people continuing to come back and to see us, it’s just been an incredible experience.

As she speaks, we see clips of people serving food and drinks and enjoying them together at the club.

The voiceover switches to Neil who says: We’ve really seen the Ukraine community really integrate within the club.

Different clips of people enjoying themselves at the club and talking to others are shown and then returns to Neil who’s sitting to the left of the screen. In the background people are playing tennis.

Neil continues to say: We've had a number of the players who now come along and play with our junior members. So it’s really exciting for us to see people, you know, pick up the game and want to widen their skills and join the club or be part of those groups. So we’ve adapted as we’ve gone along.

While Neil is speaking, we see a number of different clips of people talking, laughing, and playing tennis. A turquoise box slides on from the left of the screen. Icons and white writing appear in a vertical list, reading ‘Diversity within volunteering groups. Friendly. Welcoming for everybody, and ‘see people like yourself’.

As the writing appears, Laura says: We have been very conscious in saying, actually we want our sport, the sport that we love to be available to everybody, regardless of whether you’ve never picked up a racket before or whether you are trying out for national teams, you should have a place here.

Footage of Laura talking to camera and people talking and playing tennis are shown on the screen while Laura speaks.

The voiceover changes to Eugene Moroi, the Ukraine Response Coordinator for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. As Eugene starts speaking, we see clips of him smiling and talking to people. The scene then changes show him sitting, talking to camera. Underneath Eugene, against a white background with rounded edges, the ‘Buddle’ logo appears alongside text reading ‘Eugene Moroi, Ukraine Response Coordinator, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’.

Eugene says. Our goal in Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and with the help of the Hinckley Tennis Club, is just to make the refugees life easier, calmer, better, and full of other events where they can communicate with each other, they can meet and build new work links, connections, and just find new friends.

While Eugene is speaking, clips of people playing tennis are shown.

The screen pans to the tennis courts and blurs. White text appears in the centre of the screen reading ‘Get involved’. As the courts come back into focus, the voiceover switches to Alpa Patel, the Senior Equality Manager at Sport England.

Alpa says: Don’t be afraid, try and embrace the fact that you want to be including different members of the community. Let them have that opportunity to show the skills that they have, but also the energy that people can bring to a club and organisation. And I think it’s just embracing change.

The screen changes while Alpa talks to include footage of a child holding a tennis ball and waving a Ukrainian flag to people playing tennis and then Alpa speaking to the camera. Underneath Alpa, against a white background with rounded edges, the ‘Buddle’ logo appears alongside text reading ‘Alpa Patel, Senior Equality Manager, Sport England’.

The voiceover switches back to Laura who says: Volunteering for me has been such an incredible experience. I may not have the disposable income to be able to help other people out in that way, but I can give my time and I can offer my friendship and a space where they can come and feel safe and welcomed, and I think that’s a really important thing that anybody can do.

There’s nothing to lose from it. And the more people know about it and the more regularly it happens, the more people will come. And it’s a fantastic experience for everybody.

As Laura’s talking, the screen shows different clips including an adult and a group of children on the court, people chatting and playing tennis, Laura talking to the camera and a group shot of the participants and volunteers of the club.

Multi-coloured vertical bars move from left to right across the screen revealing a white background with a multi-coloured border. The word ‘Buddle’ appears letter by letter from left to right at the top of the screen. Underneath ‘Buddle’ black text fades in from left to right, reading ‘supported by’ followed by the Sport England logo.

Beneath this, the National Lottery logo appears. At the bottom of the screen, in black text, the website addresses for Buddle and Sport England appear, reading ‘www.buddle.co’ and ‘www.sportengland.org’. The music fades away and stops as the video finishes.