We are proud to announce that the LTA Tennis Foundation has today confirmed its Evaluation and Learning partnership with Bean Research for the next three years.
As the official charity of the LTA, the Foundation is committed to improving lives through tennis – and it does so by awarding grants and loans to organisations that broaden access to the game and unlock its many life-enhancing benefits. To date, the Foundation has supported more than 35 partners, helping to foster confidence, wellbeing, skill development, and positive behavioural change across a wide spectrum of individuals and communities.
Over the coming three years, Bean Research will work alongside the LTA Tennis Foundation to embed a culture of learning and robust evaluation across its grant-making programme. This programme, focused at the grassroots of the sport, targets underserved and diverse communities — supporting organisations that challenge convention and deliver creative solutions to open tennis up to non-traditional audiences.
At Bean, we have long recognised the power of sport to transform lives. Our work evaluating sport-for-change initiatives with organisations such as Panathlon and The Change Foundation, and funders including the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation, Sport England, and Olympism 365, has consistently shown how increased physical activity is intrinsically linked with improved mental health, stronger communities, reduced isolation, and positive learning and employment progression.
The LTA Tennis Foundation shares this belief. It has already reached over 34,000 participants from underserved backgrounds and strengthened the capacity of more than 650 coaches, leaders, and volunteers. While its Innovate grants support bold, experimental approaches to widen access, its Scale grants provide backing for proven models to grow and deepen their reach.
As part of our partnership, we have developed the Foundation’s first impact framework and are supporting its funded organisations to build their own evaluation skills — acting as a ‘guide on the side’ to assist with capacity and capability building.
We are excited about what this collaboration will bring — not only in terms of insight for the LTA Tennis Foundation, but for the wider field of sport for development. This exciting partnership reflects a shared belief in the power of evidence, learning – and tennis – to create lasting change.
