Much has been happening behind the scenes in Manchester over recent months with plans having taken place for DattoPING! Manchester and The Mighty Walzer, Howard Jacobsen play based upon the story of a young jewish boy who found Table Tennis to change his life.
The DattoPING! Manchester Volunteer workshop took place on the 21st, June at the Manchester City Centre Twenty Twenty Two PING PONG bar, situated behind Picadilly gardens. It was a great location, set in a relaxed and fun environment, with the volunteers able to play on the tables in a recreational and fun setting.
Amongst the Volunteers was Lily Sacofsky who is one of the main actors in the Mighty Walzer play about Table Tennis that is taking place at the Royal Theatre Exchange over the month of July and whilst PING! Manchester is on, which is great news for you Ping Pongers out there!
DAttoPing! Manchester is taking place from the 30th June for 6 weeks, with tables located in various places across Manchester city centre.
DattoPING! Manchester launched on the 29th June at a new pop up bar at the Old Granada studios, Quay Street, with 5 table tennis tables available for the general public to play on for free and bats and balls being provided at the tables.
DAttoPing! Manchester table locations
Piccadilly Station- 1 table, Deansgate Castlefields Station -1 table, Cork and Bull- 5 tables, The Clubhouse, Spinningfields-2 tables, MMU- 2 tables, Football museum-2 tables, the Lowry- 1 table and a table will be used for a day at The Trafford Centre.
There are also other opportunites to access and play table tennis within a social setting- Royal Theatre Exchange- 1 table, Twenty Twenty Two bar- 7 tables, Yang Sing- 4 tables, Kosmonaut- 1/2 tables
2 more table tennis tables are currently being discussed to be located within Media City, close to the BBC studios and to link in with the Manchester Olympic Fanzone event.
DattoPing!Manchester is being delivered in partnership with Greater Sport CSP and Table Tennis England. The main aim of the project is to take the sport to the people, by making it free and accessible for people to have a game on the tables and to take part in various competitions/events over the 6 week period. It is then hoped that people will want to carry on playing, with more social clubs and settings being established from the project.
Having worked closely with the Royal Theatre Exchange, who are curently showing The Mighty Walzer during July, DAttoPing!MAnchester coincides nicely with the play and the promotion of Table Tennis for over the summer period in Manchester. Through working with Stockport Table Tennis Academy, a table along with barriers, scoreboard, bats and balls has now been set up at the Royal Theatre Exchange, for the general public and the staff/actors to play on for free.
I attended the press night for the Mighty Walzer, met with the actors and performed a table tennis demonstration during the interval which was admirably watched by some of the actors, staff and people watching the play.
It was a great night and I am really excited about Table Tennis now being talked about and promoted within Manchester. The staff at the Royal Theatre Exchange are showing tremendous passion for the sport and are going to be setting up a staff workplace league, which is just what we are trying to do, in reaching out to more 16+ people playing this great sport!
Table Tennis England has some fantastic opportunites to make Table Tennis happen in your workplace, clubhouse or community setting. Please visit our website http://www.keepintheloop.uk/ to find out more about the table tennis offers and if you require any further information, help or support just give me a ring on 07841678617 or [email protected]
I am keen to work with partners across Greater Manchester who are looking for ways of actively engaging more people into improving their social, physical and mental wellbeing through Table Tennis, so please do get in touch because Table Tennis is a Sport that can connect with anyone and everyone with many positive outcomes in people’s lives.
Twitter and Facebook sites
https://twitter.com/TableTennisEngN
https://twitter.com/PingManchester
https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets