horrabridge Table Tennis Club has used money from a grant awarded by West Devon Borough Council to buy a new robot machine.

Having wished to buy a new playing table and a new robot machine to help with members development and training, club treasurer Sue Bratchley jumped at the opportunity to apply for a grant from the borough council, first advertised earlier in the year.

Sue said: ‘I just spotted a post which advertised new grants for up to £1,000 to help fund community projects when browsing Facebook one day. As a club we applied for the maximum amount at the time and we were then awarded it in April. We didn’t get the money until later as it took a little while for everything to get sorted. We only recently had the robot delivered but now it’s up and running and proving very popular with many of our members. We’re really lucky to receive this grant as we wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise. I know they have one in Okehampton too; they play in the Exeter League now since their own league folded a while back.’

From February to early March of this year West Devon Borough Council invited local voluntary and community groups across the borough to apply for a £1,000 share of a £30,000 funding pot, provided by Devon County Council, to help fund any project or scheme that would make a positive difference to health and wellbeing.

The club has been using the robot to help both starter-level and seasoned players alike to help progress their development. Providing a multitude of serve types and speeds, the robot enables those new to the sport to quickly pick up the basic game and more competitive players to practice challenging spin returns with different speeds and angles, having already proven very popular with members who regularly play in the Plymouth Table Tennis League - the closest competitive league to Horrabridge - who hope it will give them an advantage in time for when the new season starts this month.

The table tennis club runs up to six tables on a Thursday evening from 7pm to 9pm in Horrabridge Community Hall, based on Station Road. Whilst running a team in the Plymouth Table Tennis League, the club focuses on social and fun play too in both singles and doubles games.

Sue has stressed that the club is actively welcoming new members. She said: ‘We want to encourage more people, especially young people, to join as most of us are in our 50s and our former youngsters are at university now. It’s certainly not an age-restricted club. We run free trials for those who wish to join and new members of any skill level are always welcome. No specialist clothes or equipment are needed to play and equipment is provided if required. We’re very sociable, we have a good laugh and we all enjoy it.’

For more information, visit: https://horrabridgetabletennisclub.weebly.com/