Bearley Ladies' Table Tennis group has been running at Bearley Village Hall for seventeen years. Starting the group with just four members and one table, the club has regularly playing competitive doubles over the years on Monday mornings. It is not just about competition but in the main an opportunity to socialise, catch up on village news and keep active. As numbers increased they purchased another table and now they have ten members.
When lockdown began in March 2020 the village hall closed and the group followed the ever more popular trend of meeting up on Zoom, where they continued to practise table tennis skills by playing individual bat and ball games alongside other fun table tennis linked 'Zoom quizzes'.
In July, the group started playing outdoor table tennis on the field next to the village hall, meeting up on a rotational basis so we could follow the lockdown “rule of six". Outdoor table tennis presented new challenges; the wind that carried the balls away, the sun shining in our eyes, and the dogs on their daily walks expecting to join in the games! As lockdown eased they returned to fortnightly meetings inside the village hall using information from Table Tennis England as their guide; playing singles, and following all the staying safe rules set up in the village hall. The village hall committee was key to enabling the ladies to meet in a safe place and supported place.
The group have not played since the last lockdown as the village hall has remained closed, nevertheless the group have kept in contact and spirits have remained high.
