Beat a Path to our Door! And start the Recovery...

Aim

We plan to install wider, dry and safe access so members, visitors, mums with buggies and those with disabilities can better reach the club

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS

We are hoping to expand our tennis coaching to cater for people with various disabilities:

• learning disability
• sight impairment 
• and possibly one day getting 4 wheelchair players on the multi-use games area 

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN

Making our facilities accessible is essential to achieving this. It will obviously benefit the local community. It will additionally please existing tennis members as a by-product. However delivering against the LTA's drive to "open up" tennis to a wider audience is our main goal here.

The financial impact of the pandemic means we cannot afford this important upgrade without an initiative to raise new funding. 

OUR LOVELY CLUB

Take the aerial tour of our delightful club:

Being on the top of Hayes Hill and with adjacent open land, our friendly tennis club provides a haven in commuter-belt suburbia. We now want to share our lovely tennis club with a wider, more diverse audience so we can cater for everyone  in our local community.

As part of a multi-sport club we enjoy unparalleled facilities and support, including:

• the services of an experienced groundsman
• a large clubhouse with changing rooms and showers
• a  licensed bar 
• plenty of car parking

Whether you are a small person with a full-size racket.....

....or a full-sized person with an even bigger racket, there is plenty for everyone. But we want to do more to include everyone in our local community. 

We have always welcomed new members, young and old, of all standards, and our Inclusion & Diversity policy means everyone is treated fairly. But we need to improve the paths and access so that everyone can get safely to our courts - whether you have a disability or not.  Once players reach the tennis courts, everything is accessible - toilets and a safe playing surface.

One of our coaches is shortly to specialise in disability sport as he has a special affinity in this area. We also have Glebe School on our doorstep and will be able to support them much more comprehensively if we can provide better access.

OUR FACILITIES AND TENNIS ACTIVITIES

We have all the facilites needed for the full range of tennis activity:

• six carpet courts 
• one tarmac multi-use games area with both a full-size adult tennis court and six mini red courts
• floodlights on all courts 
• a practice wall and an automatic ball “firing” machine
• changing rooms and showers in the club house
• a courtside pavilion so spectators and players can make a hot drink, especially welcome on a bright winter morning

Our pavilion offers sanctuary in the event that “rain stops play”.  Parents can watch their children being coached in comfort and supervise both homework and supper for the whole family as they take their turn to have coaching.  

Being a very friendly club, the social aspects are just as important as the sporting achievement.  We hold a great variety of social events throughout the year, including wine tasting, quiz nights, family discos as well as more formal dinners.  Guests are always welcome.  

RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC

Tennis is  regarded as one of safest sports, being naturally socially-distanced. So we were fortunate to be able to return in May 2020.  Lockdown has made many people look to tennis as a sport for the first time - and we welcomed many new members last summer.  

Further lockdown periods made us all realise how important our club is each of us and how much we enjoy being able to play tennis with its benefits to our physical and mental health and wellbeing. 

It goes without saying that keeping the club open, maintaining Covid-safety throughout the changing pandemic restrictions  involved a great deal of work and expense. 

IN CONCLUSION

1. we need to raise funds

2. so we can make our facilities accessible - to everyone!

3. ...which will allow us to expand our tennis coaching to cater for people with differing disabilities:

• learning disability
• sight impairment 
• deafness
• and maybe one day soon we will be able to get 4 wheelchair players on the multi-use games area 

4. It will benefit the local community and more importantly, it is the RIGHT THING TO DO.

The earlier video shows the challenge, and this diagram shows the solution.  We need your support PLEASE so we can turn these drawings into a reality.

This project successfully funded on 30th April 2021