A THREE Towns tennis coach has seen her charity nominated for some top recognition.

Allwyn Crawford, under Promoting Inclusion Through Sport, has been shortlisted in two categories for the prestigious Tennis Scotland yearly awards.

She has been listed as a finalist in two categories - tennis for all and connecting communities.

Allwyn has been involved with tennis all of her life, and for the past 12 years has been an active tennis coach in both mainstream tennis as well as extending her coaching expertise to Additional Support Needs (ASN).

The LTA accredited coach only moved to Saltcoats at the end of 2022 and has recently championed and encouraged Tennis Scotland to support the use and hopefully upgrading of facilities at the Glebe tennis courts in Saltcoats.

In the near future, Allwyn will initiate free tennis lessons at the Glebe courts and she is already actively involved with weekly events for ASN at the Ardrossan Civic Centre.

Further to this, she recently become involved in assisting in ASN coaching sessions at Kilwinning Academy SSR.

Locals are enouraged to join in with Allwyn's weekly walks on Tuesday mornings along the Saltcoats and Ardrossan shore front.

This award nomination is testament to the impact Allwyn has made in North Ayrshire in her short time in the county.

Allwyn will find out if she, and the rest of the Promiting Inclusion Through Sport Team, have won the overall award prize when the Tennis Scotland awards ceremony is held at the Stirling Court Hotel on Friday, March 31, 2023 at 7pm.

And it is fair to say she has plenty of backing from the local community - from those benefitting from her expertise, to those who are helping her efforts to improve what is offered locally.

These efforts, at the moment, are focused on the tennis courts at the Glebe in Saltcoats and Allwyn has been working closely with Saltcoats and Stevenston councillor Jean McClung.

One of the main focuses of these improvements would be the construction of a pavilion/clubhouse/toilet facility directly adjacent to the tennis courts.

Pre-planning discussions are underway for this, ahead of an application being submitted, and funding campaigns launched, later this year.

Allwyn said: “I am really excited about the prospect of offering new sporting opportunities to the Three Towns area.

"I am passionate about what I do and am fully committed to bringing those courts back to life for the benefit of the local community.

"I cannot thank Councillor Jean McClung, the team at Streetscene, and officers from Connected Communities enough for their support to date.”

Cllr McClung added: “I am delighted at the prospect of the Glebe tennis courts being brought back to life.

"This is an underused resource at present - when I was young the courts were so popular that we had to queue up for hours to get a game!  

"Anything that gets folk, especially young people, out in the fresh air has to be applauded, as the physical and mental benefits of such activities cannot be stressed too much.

"It has been a pleasure working with Allwyn over the last few weeks.

"Her enthusiasm is clear to see, and as usual the intrepid Streetscene team have pulled out all the stops to assist. Thanks also to our Community Officers for their support.

"I look forward to seeing the courts a hive of activity in the near future!” 

Allwyn has also met with North Ayrshire and Arran MP Patricia Gibson, who she said is 100 per cent behind the project and "will help in any way possible".