A MAN from Aspatria is celebrating after scooping a prestigious national gong.

Don Saul won the Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA)Cathie Sabin Award for saving Ackworth Tennis Club, West Yorkshire, from the verge of extinction.

In June Don, who lives in High Ackworth, also won the LTA's Volunteer of the Year Award for the North of England, and Yorkshire Volunteer of the Year Award last year.

At the virtual awards, on July 30, the club's Alice Robson also won the national Development Coach of the Year prize - this means the club has a unique 'triple double' of LTA awards this year, with two previously won at regional and county level.

Don's worked countless hours setting up initiatives like ‘prescription for tennis link’ with the local NHS surgery, and working with Ackworth School, Yorkshire Tennis and the Tim Henman Foundation to pool funding to bring in a young head coach.

A retired head of science teacher, Don, who attended The Nelson Thomlinson School, Wigton, said: “All we had to do at Ackworth Tennis Club was choose and co-operate with partners, agree aims and obtain the funding.

“Choose a coach for youthful enthusiasm, enormous potential, a marvellous work ethic, and a capacity to make everyone enjoy their tennis, allow her the autonomy to set up and run programmes, and trust her to do her job.

“Have a chairman determined to facilitate her needs and ambitions. Then, wait for the results. If only it was as easy as this sounds. Alice transformed the club within months, and just look at us now: a diverse, inclusive, vibrant club with a future to match.

“The success of Ackworth Tennis Club has been achieved by restricting competition to on the courts. In every other aspect of the club we believe that co-operation is the key to success.”

To find out more about the LTA go to: www.lta.org.uk.