Volunteer of the Year Award was recently presented at the Notts LTA Awards Night to Isabelle Bramhall (Izzy) by Jocelyn Rae, former Fed Cup player, Commonwealth Gold medal winner and Wimbledon mixed doubles quarter finalist

Izzy came to the Wollaton Village Tennis Club’s rescue in early 2020.  Her boundless energy and enthusiasm galvanised the committee and the membership as they faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Izzy singlehandedly, and at no cost to the Club, ran an amazing recruitment campaign throughout the year which helped increase the adult membership from 92 to 134 during the year. 

Izzy introduced singles and doubles box leagues, mobilised non-committee members to get involved with everything from running teams to revamping our Facebook page to watering the flower displays and created such a “buzz” at the Club, so many people just wanted to be involved.   Committee members were all given areas of responsibility by Izzy so that the running of the Club was not left to a few individuals and her plans for 2021, will take the Club to another level, with the Club's first ever teams participating in the National League Inter-Club Seniors Competitions and the establishment of the Wollaton Village Junior Tennis Academy.

Izzy has also been supporting an upcoming junior player by offering her experience and expertise to develop his game.  She does this to ‘give back’ to the sport that she has herself excelled at.

I should mention here that Izzy has recently retired from the Elite Singles Racketlon having represented GB and reached the World Championships in 2019.  She is also no 5 on the all-time list of Women’s Elite Racketlon Singles winners and has recently been selected for the GB 50’s team

Tennis aside, during lockdown Izzy has run a daily circuit training class for the local residents on her street – and they love it!  She always has boundless enthusiasm for helping people reach their full potential and this shines through in the local community as well.

Today, she is being awarded Volunteer of the Year for the tremendous work she has done at her local club.