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First community wallball court opens in London

UK Wallball, the Jack Petchey Foundation and Bankside Open Spaces Trust have partnered to develop the is the first full-size community Wallball court in the UK.

Located in Marlborough Sport Gardens in Southwark, near to Borough Market, the court is free to access and features a colourful street-art inspired design, which encourages people to play. Next to the court is a poster with a QR code to an instructional video and there’s also a vending machine of balls on site. 

Wallball is a sport designed for inner-cities. Players have to hit a ball against a wall with their hand. It’s simple, accessible and, crucially, cheap. All that is needed is a wall and a ball. 

For UK Wallball the new court marks the first step in emulating the New York model; a city similar to London, which now has over 2,500 community Wallball courts – all free to use to anyone across the city.

“This court is incredibly exciting for us. Any player is going to have a brilliant time playing and with everything we’ve installed here you don’t even need a coach. You can literally teach yourself by watching a video and grabbing a ball from the vending machine,” says Dr Daniel Grant, director of UK Wallball.

“Wallball’s greatest strength is its simplicity and that is playing out in full here. Behind the scenes, by breaking down barriers to getting active, initiatives like this will help to improve both the physical and mental health of anyone who engages, either as players on the court or as artists, chefs, DJs and volunteers off it.”

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