Grassroots sport and East Londoners will feel a lasting benefit from the ITTF Team World Cup.

The event at the Copper Box Arena on London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park marked the official launch of a major grassroots table tennis project.

The Team World Cup Legacy Project focuses on East London and runs until July 2018. The project aims to create great table tennis experiences and inspire thousands of East Londoners to make physical activity part of their everyday lives.

The ITTF Team World Cup took place at London’s Copper Box from 22-25 February. As the second most prestigious competition in the ITTF’s international calendar, it means the world’s best players came to London and millions of fans watched from around the globe. The event was shown live on the BBC Sport website and England won a bronze medal in the men’s competition.

The lasting legacy project is being supported by the Mayor of London and is part-funded by the Greater London Authority’s Major Events Engagement Fund.

Matthew Ryder, Deputy Mayor of London said: “I am honoured to be working with Table Tennis England by supporting their Team World Cup Community Legacy programme.

“It’s giving Londoners of all ages and backgrounds a chance to try table tennis for themselves at home, at work and in their communities. It’s also given 2,000 London school children the chance to enjoy the Team World Cup Event for free.”

Table Tennis England will create unique experiences for table tennis players – including making the game more accessible for children and young people in London and South East England. The project has supported building club and school links to break down barriers to make table tennis a sport for all.

The project includes:

• 10 club-school table tennis table packages including coaching and a TWC-themed event
• Free tickets to the event for schools involved
• Young Leaders Course for pupils involved
• Teachers’ course to help teachers support table tennis in their schools
• Discounted Level One Coaching and Umpiring courses

One of the schools given free tickets to watch a session at the Team World Cup was Sir Thomas Abney School.

Liz Morpurgo, PE co-ordinator, said: “The kids were really excited about coming and seeing the players for themselves. We have a table tennis team at school and they felt really motivated by coming to watch the players.

“The atmosphere has been amazing. They loved the fan zone and meeting the players. They have been really inspired by it.”

Pupil Karnail Codling Palacha, 10, said: “I play table tennis every day two times a day. It is a really fun sport. I was really excited when I found out we were coming to the Team World Cup. It has been a dream come true.

“I was most excited about seeing Ma Long from China. I also got to meet the England team and got their autographs. I asked for an autograph from Tin-Tin Ho and Kelly Sibley.”

The project will inspire thousands of East Londoners to lead more active lifestyles and enjoy the benefits of social sports participation – however busy everyday life gets.

The project focuses on five East London Boroughs (Newham, Hackney, Barking & Dagenham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest). It is being delivered through partnerships with London borough councils, businesses and community organisations who want to use table tennis to improve people’s quality of life.

This includes:

• 11 Loop at Work table tennis packages for London businesses
• 15 Loop in the Community packages or East London community groups
• 10 new ping pong tables in East London public spaces
• 3 outdoor ping pong communities to be set up in partnership with Friends of Park groups

There are also more than 50 tables already in public spaces, all of which are free for anyone to use! These public tables will be the focal point for events, competitions and community building projects, all delivered in partnership with players and local community groups.

For more information on the TWC Legacy project, visit www.tabletennisengland.co.uk/twc-legacy-project