WELLINGTON Tennis Club has received a £5,000 cash boost after being named as a finalist in a national competition.

The club received the money as part of the Persimmon Homes Healthy Communities scheme, which saw the housebuilder give away £435,000 to finalists.

Persimmon Homes South West chose the club as its winner after being impressed with the work they do in the community.

The Healthy Communities competition went to a public vote, where all 30 finalists battled to receive Persimmon Homes’ top prize of £200,000.

The finalists were invited to attend a gala dinner at York Racecourse last week, with 27 organisations receiving £5,000 for getting to the final stage of the competition.

Nina Hester, sales and marketing director at Persimmon Homes South West, said: “The Healthy Communities scheme has been a great success and we had a brilliant evening at York Racecourse celebrating the fantastic work of these special sporting clubs.

“We have been overwhelmed by both the response to the competition, and the hard work of those involved within the sporting clubs, who work exceptionally hard to train the next generation of sporting heroes.”

Overall winners, the Heart of England Community Boxing Club, will completely redevelop their new premises in Hinckley with the prize money.

SportsAble, based in Maidenhead, and Park Wrekin Gymnastics, based in Telford & Wrekin, were the two runners-up, each receiving £50,000.

Persimmon Homes launched its Healthy Communities scheme last May, and has since given £615,000 to support amateur youth sport in England, Scotland and Wales.