Our mission is to Improve Lives Through Racket Sports

We remain incredibly grateful for the continued support from The Club, its members, and our wider community of supporters. Your commitment enables us to broaden access, strengthen our programmes, and create more opportunities for people who face barriers to sport.
As we begin the new year, we are delighted to share several exciting developments. This year, the first time VI tennis has featured at the Australian Open, we have continued to develop our local Visually Impaired Hotspot within our joint Inclusive Hotspots Project with Middlesex Tennis.

We are also proud to celebrate the achievements of several young people from our Community Hub programme who have progressed from our community sessions into county-level training. Their dedication and progress reflect both their hard work and the value of accessible pathways within our programmes.

We hope you enjoy reading more about these milestones and our ongoing commitment to improving lives through racket sports in the year ahead impacting in excess of 2,000 adults and children.
 
Kate Maurici
Head of Foundation


 

Regular VI Tennis sessions launched at Parson's Green Sports & Social Club 

The QCF proudly held our first VI session on 14th October at Parsons Green Sports & Social Club. The monthly Tuesday 8pm sessions, which are part of the jointly funded inclusive hotspots project with Middlesex Tennis, have already created great buzz and are kindly supported by Naqi Rizvi, World No.1 Blind Tennis Champion. Huge thanks to our brilliant volunteers - Tim, Yuan, Arjun, and others - whose dedication makes it all possible.  A key element of our hotspots is local workforce training and our first LTA Youth Tennis Leaders Course at the venue on 25th October, featured specialist VI training. We’re excited to welcome more young people to get involved and support this fantastic programme.  

Junior Pathway Success

The QCF community programme continues to grow from strength to strength. Two of our juniors, Nolen Borbély and Ayla Azemi, were selected this term for 7U training camps and 10U county training squads - an outstanding achievement and a clear example of the QCF junior pathway in action.  Both players are regular participants on our free community tennis sessions in Hammersmith & Fulham.

 

Squash & Squash Scholars

The QCF continues its partnership with local schools, delivering squash sessions at The Queen’s Club, supported by the generosity of the Philip King Charitable Trust. This year, two young players on our programme received scholarships enabling them to train on the QC Junior programme, including one remarkable young athlete returning to sport after several strokes and brain surgery. We’re thrilled to support their talent - showing how QCF opens doors and transforms lives through sport.

 

Sam Kimpton's QCF Marathon Fundraiser

We’re proud to share that Sam Kimpton, one of our tennis coaches and a dedicated member of the grounds team at The Queen's Club, will be running the London Marathon on 26 April.

Completing 26.2 miles has long been a personal ambition for Sam, and he is very generously taking on this challenge in support of the Queen’s Club Foundation. All donations raised will go directly towards our mission of improving lives through racket sports in 2026 and beyond, supporting young people and communities through meaningful access to sport.

We would be grateful for your support - please consider sharing Sam’s fundraising campaign and donating if you are able. Every contribution helps us extend our impact and helps Sam to get through those long training runs!

Donate here

 

Inclusive Player Pathway Project

We are delighted to welcome Melvil Vedrenne-Cloquet as our third Inclusive Player Pathway Scholar. Melvil, who is from London, is currently ranked #47 in the world for junior wheelchair tennis and will be training at The Queen’s Club alongside fellow scholars Leo and Emerson, under the guidance of renowned Lead Coach (and Surrey 2026 Performance Coach of the Year),  Alison Taylor. Delivered by the QCF, and funded by QC Member, Aditya Mittal, the IPP provides a sustainable wheelchair tennis pathway for talented players identified through our community outreach, supporting their development and progression. We look forward to sharing updates on Melvil and our other scholars in future newsletters. 

 

QCF Christmas Drinks

At our Christmas drinks event we thank those who have supported us throughout the year and share stories of much of the work we do, as well as raise money which goes towards our Christmas Campaign.

Our speakers included MP Ben Coleman, Councillor Sharon Holder, Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham and a participant on one of our dementia friendly senior tennis programmes.

We were also delighted to have children from our squash and tennis programmes from St Augustine'sprimary school, just round the corner from the Club, singing carols at the start of event and again a couple of days later for members.

Thanks to all of our supporters at the event and to those who bought raffle tickets and made donations. Also a particular thank you to Rebecca Palmer, who presented the QCF with a cheque for £2,295, all raised through the sale of her delicious Christmas Cakes which she donated for sale to members. 

 

Christmas Community Club Festival sponsored by Gartner

We finished our Autumn Junior Community Programme with a fantastic Christmas Festival, welcoming 60 excited children and their families to the Junior Centre at The Club. For the first time, Rachel Johnson and Ayla Azemi from the QCF programme played in an exhibition match-both now competing at 12U level, and Ayla joins Rachel as a QCF participant now selected for Middlesex county training. The QCF team couldn’t be more proud, and it was amazing to see the children inspired by their talents on court.

We’re also hugely grateful to our partnership with Gartner - 24 wonderful volunteers joined our coaching team to make the day so special, connecting with the children and creating a truly joyful atmosphere for everyone.

 

IPP Disability History Month Event

Just before Christmas, the QCF delivered its third annual Disability History Month event in association with King’s College London. We were delighted to welcome national award-winning inclusive tennis coach and tutor Sue Morrison, who led an outstanding session for 35 QCF coaches and KCL students, alongside 11 Queen’s Club members. The event provided a fun, engaging introduction to delivering inclusive tennis and highlighted the importance of accessibility across all levels of the game. 

 

IPP Sessions at Ladywell Tennis Centre

Each week, six young players aged 6–17 bring fantastic energy to the Ladywell IPP session for children with disabilities to come and enjoy tennis, including one dedicated 17‑year‑old girl. Guided by two enthusiastic venue coaches, the group thrives in a supportive environment where skill-building and teamwork shine. It’s a brilliant showcase of the QCF supporting local disability delivery in partnership with South East London Tennis.

 

Fundraising Manager

We are seeking a passionate and experienced Fundraising Manager to join our team.

This is a part-time, permanent position working two days per week, with one day remote. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in securing funds to support the Foundation’s initiatives through various fundraising activities, grant applications, and regular donor engagement.

This is a great opportunity for someone with a strong fundraising background, particularly in grant funding and donor management, to make a significant impact in a small yet ambitious organisation. To apply for this position please click here

 

Ways to Support the QCF financially

Become a QCF Friend
Please click on our fundraising link to set up a regular donation which will support the many community projects we deliver. Our Friends are invited to participate in our social events across the year and will all receive a QCF enamel pin.  If you have made a regular donation recently and want to arrange delivery of your pin, please contact [email protected]

Make a Legacy Promise
Your legacy will make a lasting difference to the work of the QCF.  Pledging a gift in your will can fund programmes from local community initiatives, to specific support for scholars on our programmes. They are one of the most powerful ways to support our work and help us to deliver longer term projects to those who need more sport in their lives.  For further information on the QCF legacy scheme, please click here.

Make a one-off donation
If you simply want to make a one-off donation, we can take payment either by credit card, bank transfer, CAF Cheque, Corporate giving scheme or via our charity JustGiving page.  Please be sure to tick the GiftAid box if you are eligible to do so as this grows the size of your donation even more. Click here to make a single donation.
 

Dates for your diary

Thursday 19th February: Onside Law Working in Sports Careers Day

Sunday 22nd February: QCF Rally Girls Event with India Ampaw.

Thursday 26th February: Real Tennis & Squash Outreach Day

Friday 27th February: IPP Dementia Friendly Tennis Workforce Forum 

Sunday 29th March:  Launch of the QCF and Middlesex Tennis Deaf Tennis Hotspot at Spelthorne Tennis Club 11.30-1.30pm

 

Sponsors

We are always looking for sponsors to support our community club festivals and events.  If you would like to match-fund a QCF campaign linked to a festival, or event, or if your company would like to support an event with a major donation, please contact us to discuss at [email protected]

A huge thank you to our equipment sponsors, Wilson

 

A call for volunteers

We are also always looking for people to support our outreach work.  If you would like to join our database of volunteers, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. We have a variety of ways in which you can assist us, and would be delighted to discuss how you can help.

We are particularly grateful to our sponsored athletes, Sam Kimpton and Arjun Singh who raised money for us this year with fundraising runs and also to all the volunteers who have assisted at our events.


Our trustees: Will Morse (Chair), Tim Cockroft, Vasu Majumdar, Malcolm Smith, Brenda Vandamme, Emma Wardle
Our executive team:  Kate Maurici (Head of Foundation), Isabelle Stanley, (Foundation Manager), Karin Govan (Head Coach and Programmes Co-ordinator) and Danja Gutzwiller (Executive Assistant)
Our advisers: Richard Buckingham, Simon Jones, Vanessa Neill


If you would like to get more involved with the Foundation and support the valuable work that we do, please contact our Head of Foundation, Kate Maurici at [email protected] or visit our website where there are clear instructions on how to make a donation or become a Friend of The QCF. 

Our charity number is 1164144

Thank you!