Morpeth Tennis Club development plan

Aim

Resurface 3 of our 6 artificial grass tennis courts, replace our at-court dug-out shelter and improve court accessibility and access.

We need to bounce back from two years of COVID disruptions

With the COVID-19 disruptions over the last two years, we have struggled to raise money to improve our facilities.  This has come at a time when we urgently need to look to the future of our club and replace the playing surface on half of our tennis courts and improve our environment.  During the pandemic we've seen an increase in interest in tennis, membership, coaching and public access to our courts.  Without investment, we will struggle to meet this demand and risk interest and our members moving elsewhere.

We've already raised £62,000 towards our project and are now £20,000 away from achieving many of our aims.

**UPDATES**

21/3/22 update: Sport England have kindly agreed to match-fund our project and have pledged £6,000 to our campaign (now included in our total).

New and essential rewards released:

• Exclusive racquet offers from Peake Performance Sports (Northumberland Club). Watch Mark describe the racquets here.
• Annual membership discounts
• More rewards from local companies
• VIP invite to opening event
• Keep-Uppy challenge - submit your video here (google account required) 

About our club

We are a tennis club located in South Northumberland and pride ourselves on being welcoming and inclusive to anyone of any age and tennis playing ability.  We share our clubhouse and facilities with Morpeth Cricket Club and Morpeth Hockey Club.  Our club, formed in 1880, serves the areas of Morpeth and the surrounding ex-mining towns of Bedlington, Pegswood and Ashington.  We have around 100 senior members and over 50 children enrolled in our coaching programme.  Our courts are also open for public pay and play.

Why we need to raise money...

We have now reached an important crossroads in our history.  Central to our survival and development is the need to refurbish the playing surface on our top three courts.  These courts were installed close to 25 years ago and have served the club well.  However, as you will no doubt have noticed if you have played on them, the AstroTurf carpet is threadbare in places, drains poorly and is  slippery when wet.  Of more concern, however, are the underlying problems with the court sub-base.  This has resulted in a bumpy surface, making for an unpredictable and frustrating tennis experience!  At the moment, we are essentially operating at half capacity.  This has made balancing the needs of coaching, social and competitive tennis sessions, in addition to public access, increasingly more difficult.

Development plan

We want to ensure the future of Morpeth Tennis Club and importantly, be in a position to continue to serve the needs of our current members as well as the public that play on our courts.  Our aim is to grow our membership and promote tennis, fitness and our vibrant community to players of all ages and abilities in South Northumberland.  We have brought together a two-phase development plan.

Phase 1 – Replacement of the top court playing surface

We will address problems with our top courts and install a new playing surface, which offers all weather, all year-round playability.

Cost: £72,000 including VAT

Phase 2 – Improving court access, shelter and the local environment

We need to improve access pathways to the courts to ensure that wheelchair users and those of limited mobility can easily and safely access and use our facilities.  In addition to this, we intend to provide seating areas for spectators and replace our storm-damaged dug-out area with a fit for purpose larger enclosed structure that can be used for shelter and the storage of coaching equipment.  With the support of the LTA, we also aim to install an automated electronic court floodlight access system that will facilitate both member and public access to the courts all year round.

Cost: £10,000- £20,000 (estimate)

What have we done so far...?

With grant support already secured from SUEZ (Communities Trust) and Northumberland County Council (Community Chest) and with our club savings, we are firmly on the way to achieving our phase 1 development plan target.

We are just £10,000 short of the £72,000 needed to renew the playing surface on our top three courts.

If our campaign is successful, all the money that we raise will go towards ensuring that phase 1 of our plans are completed and that we start to make significant inroads into our phase 2 plans.

Who will these improvements benefit?

Community tennis:  We have recently increased our junior coaching plans and have established an extensive school outreach programme in the Morpeth area.   Tennis was one of the first sports to 'reopen' following the national lockdown in 2020, and we have seen an increase in interest in our club and coaching programmes.  Being able to offer 6 floodlit courts with all-year playability will add much needed court capacity and will allow us to achieve these aims.

Competitive tennis:  The club has 11 teams playing in the Durham and Northumberland local leagues.  With the aforementioned playability issues on half of our courts, fulfilling match fixtures puts extra pressure on the club’s courts and will result in the cancellation of other club activities.

Public pay-as-you-play:  With our refurbished courts and an automated way for the public to access them, we would like to provide a high-quality and low cost tennis facility for the people of South Northumberland.  This will generate interest in our club and coaching programme and eventually drive up membership.

What our members think....

How can you help...?

As a club, and with generous support from local businesses, we've put together an exciting package of rewards to show our appreciation for your support.  Check out our discounted membership packages as well as the fantastic offers provided by local businesses around Morpeth.

Why not sponsor our club and help us to reach our target...?  There is potential to reach over 500 members of the combined Morpeth Cricket, Hockey & Tennis club, as well as visiting teams, visitors to our facilities, and passing traffic to Longhirst Golf Club. We are offering several discounted sponsorship opportunities.

Thank you!

We are grateful for any contribution to our campaign that you are willing, to make either by taking out a reward, sponsoring us, or making a contribution.  We know that money may be tight, but by supporting our club at this time, you will be helping to secure our future, which will allow us to develop our facilities for the benefit of the public of South Northumberland.

This project successfully funded on 3rd April 2022