2004 Jul 02 - LTA withdraw Sir Cliff's tennis funding

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have decided to no longer fund Sir Cliff Richard's tennis charity The Cliff Richard Tennis Foundation - which has introduced 300,000 primary school children to tennis since 1992.

This decision comes after four years of funding which reached £75,000 in 2002. The reason apparently stems from the All England Club (AELTC) reducing the circa £30m handout they give the LTA are given each year following the £100m plus profit they generate from running the Wimbledon Championships.

It still begs the question as to what the LTA actually do with all their money because as usual very little seems to be going back into British tennis. With the type of money they have received over the years you would think every major town and city would have an LTA tennis academy!

The good news for the Cliff Richard Tennis Foundation is that DJ Mike Read has stepped in with a £65,000 donation which he raised from his brief appearance on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

Sue Mappin (Director of the Foundation) said:

"The shortfall has made Mike's fund-raising all the more crucial to us. It's just wonderful that he's prepared to support tennis."