Wednesday was a joyful day for members of Bermuda Treasures Tennis Programme, when Andrew Murdoch, the Governor, and Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, showed their support for the cause.

Over 70 seniors turned up to play tennis at Government House, where Murdoch and Furbert joined in the action.

David Lambert, the director of the programme, shared that the invitation came after he informed the Governor that some of the programme’s members had never been to his residence.

“We went up to Government House on Wednesday because last year when he stopped by WER Joell Stadium I mentioned to him that many of our Bermuda Treasures hadn’t had the opportunity to visit Government House,” Lambert said.

“He said ‘let’s make it happen’ and we went. Everyone was very happy and we really appreciate His Excellency inviting us.

“He came down. I know he was very busy but he came down, said hi to everyone and hit a few balls.

“Minister Tinée Furbert, she comes every time she’s invited so we really appreciate it. I know she’s very busy also but we really appreciated her coming, offered some words of encouragement and everyone had fun.

“That’s what it’s really all about, having fun, getting out, moving, exercising and we see the difference. Every week we see our Bermuda Treasures moving a little bit more.”

Lambert indicated that the initiative continues to grow after the Covid-19 setback.

“There’s three different levels of players within our treasures programme,” he said.

“Some are at a level where they can compete, some are at a level where they come out and support the course. All those two are just beginning but they’re having fun and they’re just beginning to move.

“A large part of our programme is to get everyone to move, have fun and learn the game of tennis simultaneously.

“I would say that the average age of our programme is 72. We had quite a few who are in the mid-80s. We have some what we call new beginners who are in their 60s but generally speaking the age group is from 55 and up and most of our players like I said are in that mid-70 age group.”

Mailboxes handed over sponsorship for the seniors to sign up as members of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association.

“I don’t have the funds for that, so that's where the sponsorship funds will go towards all of our Bermuda Treasures to have them become full members of the BLTA,” Lambert added.

“So that was very kind from one of our sponsors, Bricen Hakeman, from Mailboxes, for the funding.”