Irvine Tennis Club have revealed their plans to develop their current courts at Thornhouse Avenue.

This includes lighting, so they can be used all year round, as well as replacing the current ash surface with state of the art astroturf.

They received a boost recently as they were gifted £500 by locally based company Merck, who plan to work closely with the club in future.

Chris McKenna, a spokesperson for the club (ITC), said: “Irvine Tennis Club have aspirations of renovating the tennis facilities at Thornhouse Avenue.

“They are in process of applying for a community asset transfer which should be complete by April.

“This will allow Irvine Tennis club to start applying for large scale grants and funding so that they transform the facility.

“ITC want to remove the old red ash surface and replace it with state of the art artificial grass. This project will cost around £170,000 in total.

“They also want to build a clubhouse with changing and showering facilities. This will also be used to run kids coaching camps in the school holidays.

“We also want to install LED floodlights so that the courts can used all year round.

“Our two main funding applications that we will be applying for are The Community Investment Fund up to £100,000 from North Ayrshire and the ‘Sports Facility Fund’ from Sports Scotland.

“We are hoping the facility will be renovated by summer 2023.”

Stephen Docherty, co-ordinator for the social wellness awareness team at Merck, added: “We aim to work closely in the future , we have ideas and hopes of providing a yearly tournament and getting the company employees down to try out the courts.

“The project itself is a selfless one by Chris and a highly rewarding one for the community in which we will all benefit from and appreciate.

“We have many events planned up this year to give back to the community.”

For more on the club, including how to volunteer help visit: https://www.irvinetennisclub.co.uk/