Hundreds of people gather for Thank You Day event at Wimbledon

Hundreds of people gathered at an event in Wimbledon on Sunday to mark National Thank You Day – held to recognise people for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

The national event, organised by the Together coalition, saw people staging activities across the UK as a way of thanking each other and to build on the community spirit felt by many during lockdown.

In south-west London play at the Wimbledon Championships was suspended as part of the traditional Middle Sunday break.

However this year, organisers combined it with Thank You Day and held a free tennis community event for residents on the public tennis courts in Wimbledon Park.

There were free tennis sessions for children and adults, and Leon Smith – the LTA head of Men’s Tennis and Great Britain’s Davis Cup Captain – was a guest and coached some of the children.

It was organised by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the local community and the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative.

Scott Lloyd LTA chief executive, said he “really enjoyed” being on the court again with people.

“It’s fantastic to have so many children here enjoying playing tennis through sessions from our LTA Youth programme, and we’re very pleased to be working with the AELTC to put on this event in Wimbledon Park once again,” he said.

“This has been a perfect example of how tennis is a sport for everyone and has demonstrated how vital public park courts are to our work to open tennis up to more people.”

Up in Bradford, around 1,000 real and knitted white roses were handed out across the district to key workers and members of the public by Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin and senior members from the council.

The roses were awarded to people at different events, including volunteers at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and care home workers and residents at Norwood House Nursing Home in Keighley.

The flowers, which are synonymous with Yorkshire, represent sacrifices people have made during the pandemic to try and help others.

Each flower comes with a message for the recipient, thanking them and encouraging them to thank others.

Kersten England, chief executive at Bradford Council, said: “Yorkshire is known for its community spirit so we wanted to use a version of the white rose of Yorkshire as a symbol to show how thankful we are for communities and for the future and the changes that this summer will bring.

“While we are looking forward to enjoying more freedom this summer, the sacrifices and efforts of the community are what has made this possible. Let’s take this opportunity to say thank you.”