Padel Project UK have launched an initiative at their new club in Darlington to encourage local NHS workers to play padel.
The new addition to Padel Project UK‘s empire is situated at Darlington Rugby Football Club (where founder Tim Foster used to play). Tim is pictured above with Mayor of Darlington, Bob Donoghue, and President of the rugby club, Ali Bell.
Players using the padel facilities will also be able to use the adjacent rugby club’s toilets, clubhouse and bar area.
It’s the operator’s third padel club, adding to their existing sites in Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire, and Potters Bar, North London.
The Darlington club is the first in the area, aiming to attract a new cohort of players to the sport. The floodlit four-court facility will be open to the public from 8am to 10pm every day. There are free introductory sessions, along with £5 sessions during peak times (5pm to 10pm on weekdays and all day on weekends).
“There are no courts in Darlington,” Henry Ash of Padel Project UK told The Padel Paper, “Our boss, Tim Foster, used to be a professional rugby player and played for Darlington. The club has a lot of history in itself, it’s one of the oldest clubs in the country, and Tim used to play there when he was playing in the England junior teams. He knew about Darlington Rugby Club, so we approached them and decided to build the padel centre there.
“We don’t go to places and build our own restaurants and cafes like lots of other people do, simply build the courts and try and work in conjunction with the stakeholders, in this case the rugby club. We can say we’ll bring more members of the public to your site to play padel, and they will come into the bar and buy food and drinks.”
The Darlington site will offer discounted rates to NHS staff members after a partnership was agreed with the local NHS Trust.
Henry explained: “We have been promoted on the NHS app, and we are offering a 25% discount for all NHS staff members to come down and use the padel sites in off-peak times.
“What I’m hoping is that a group from one hospital comes down with 20 people and wants to reserve the site at the same time each week. They will get the site fully booked to themselves and each receive 25% off their booking. If they want to come down individually then they can still use the discount, but our idea is that we can reserve time slots for NHS staff members.
“We do have a membership offer on, but we do not operate members’ clubs. Anyone who would like to pay and play is welcome.”
