The Jack Petchey Foundation, a major supporter of table tennis and a principal partner of Table Tennis England, has celebrated its 15th anniversary at the Theatre Royal with their biggest event to date.
‘Ignite, a Festival of Youth’ was held to celebrate the young people who the Jack Petchey Foundation have benefited. Performances on the night came from groups including Step Into Dance, Gateway to Music, Unifrom, Panathlon and London Schools Table Tennis.
The Jack Petchey Foundation was established in 1999 with a purpose to support the aspirations and ambitions of young people and to encourage them to take full advantage of every opportunity that is available to them. The foundation develops the potential of young people so they are valued, recognised and rewarded for the positive things that they achieve. They believe that providing this support will assist young people in playing a full part in society, leading to successful futures.
In order to achieve this, the Jack Petchey Foundation makes grants to programmes and projects that exist to benefit young people aged between 11 and 25. Since 1999 the Jack Petchey Foundation has awarded grants totalling more than £85 million.
One of the grants Jack Petchey awards is for the London Schools Table Tennis Programme, which is co-ordinated by Table Tennis England. The programme provides tables, equipment, training and support to schools as well as a progressive individual and team competition to help more schools and colleges deliver more table tennis activity to more young people.
To date, more than 20,710 young people have directly benefited from the London Schools Table Tennis Programme. Some 700 indoor tables have been placed in 190 schools and colleges and 145 outdoor tables have also been donated.
We are LOVING the table tennis display at @JPFoundation Ignite show. It’s like a table tennis rave! pic.twitter.com/Bk0paZf9wk
— Step into Dance (@StepintoDance) March 15, 2015
The table tennis performance at the ‘Ignite, a Festival of Youth’ celebration came from London Academy students who performed in front of the 6,000-strong crowd with an outstanding routine of table tennis skills and tricks to music.
Table Tennis England would like to thank the Jack Petchey Foundation for all of the support given to table tennis over the past four years, and here’s to many more in the future.
To find out more about the London Schools Table Tennis Competition, visit http://londonschoolstabletennis.co.uk/
March 23, 2015