Building Handcrafted Table Tennis Tables

Worldwide

Title

Tables 4 ALL

Status

In preparation

Start date

2019

Project description

One of the major obstacles to table tennis practise is the absence of material available, and the difficulty to acquire tables for local organisations. A local production allows an almost neutral ecological print, while a worldwide shipping of tables has an ecological impact.

After developing a manual of how to build 5 different models of handcrafted tables, the goal is now to create a pedagogical content that enables us to provide theoretical knowledge and a practical workshop in building handcrafted tables that will be given over a 5 to 7 days period.

Aim

To bring self-sustainability to field projects, national associations, clubs, and others by giving them the chance to produce their own tables and to generate their own income.

Target group

ALL - with a focus of the inclusion of disadvantaged groups

Foundation funding

46,140 €

Partners

Ping Sans Frontières (PSF)

Project content:

One of the main barriers to develop table tennis world-wide, especially in developing countries, is the lack of equipment at affordable prices due to the lack of sporting shops, the long and expensive process to import tables from abroad involving customs, transportation to the end destination or even the high cost of the tables compared to the resources available for the local clubs.

Objectives:

- To provide free access to material on our website section “Get Inspired” for everyone in the table tennis community even if the produced resources (e.g. videos, manual and guidelines) are intended to be used during a classroom course
- To offer a sustainable solution for equipment
- To ensure our partners in the field to have dignity, are autonomous and feel ownership of the project and equipment that they build
- To provide our partners the possibility to generate their own income by producing and selling tables

Current challenges:

Covid-19 outbreak: date for the first official Tables 4 ALL course cannot be fixed until travel restrictions are banned and group activities are allowed.

Next steps:

- Modification and adjustments of the course material
- Prepare a survey for the participants in order to evaluate and detect possible points of improvement
- Conduct two test courses (dates to be confirmed)
- Conduct the first official Tables 4 ALL course (date to be confirmed)