The All England Lawn Tennis Club was delighted to host its fifth annual Community Open Weekend on 7 and 8 February, offering local residents living close to the SW19 Grounds the opportunity to enjoy everything Wimbledon has to offer.
Since 2021, more than 4,500 guests have attended the Community Open Weekends and this year, the free, balloted event proved as popular as ever, with more than 1,200 guests visiting across both days.
Guests enjoyed an array of activities including tours of the Grounds and visits to Centre Court, mini tennis, afternoon tea themed story time, and food and drink themed arts and crafts inspired by the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum’s newest exhibition – A Slice of History: Food and Drink at Wimbledon – on display until autumn 2026.
Deborah Jevans CBE, Chair of the All England Club, said:
“We are always pleased to welcome the local community to our Grounds so they can explore and enjoy all that Wimbledon has to offer. This year’s Community Open Weekend was particularly special as we are celebrating both the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative and the Wimbledon Learning Programme reaching 25 years of working in schools in Merton and Wandsworth.”
In addition to the many local residents in attendance, special guests during the weekend included Mayor of Merton Martin Whelton, Mayor of Wandsworth Jeremy Ambache, Paul Kohler, MP for Wimbledon, and Merton Councillor Edith Macauley MBE.
Rufus the Hawk, famous for scaring off the pigeons during The Championships, was a popular attraction for guests of all ages, while the Wimbledon groundstaff and gardeners were on hand to answer many questions from enthusiasts about turf care and planting.
Guests visiting the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum enjoyed a rare chance to explore the library, which houses the world’s finest collection of tennis books, publications and newspaper articles, plus the library’s newest addition – scrap books about Andy Murray’s tennis career, generously donated by his late grandparents, Mr and Mrs Erskine.
