Who are we?
Blagdon tennis courts are falling into disrepair, so action is required! With agreement in principal from the Tennis Club and the Parish Council we are taking the opportunity to think bigger around what can be done with this space, for the benefit of the whole community.
To bring this to life, we will re-form the Blagdon Playing Fields Association ("BPFA"), which will be dedicated to the long-term development of the Mead and tennis courts area. BPFA will work in phases to constantly improve the area, starting with a project to create 1 new, closed tennis court for club members and 1 multi-use sports court that is open to the community.
Plans will be finalised via a community consultation, and we need to raise funds to take this first step.
What is our mission?
The Mead playing fields and tennis area are a beautiful place for all generations to congregate, relax, drink in the views and play. BPFA will strive to constantly improve this space, creating an inclusive environment with sports facilities and activities for the whole community of Blagdon. We expect to create an enduring positive impact on the village's active lifestyle, mental wellbeing and sense of community pride.
How we’ll spend the money raised
Our initial phase of works involves the regeneration of the 2 existing, gated tennis courts.
In replacement, we intend to create one, newly surfaced, high quality court, which shall be gated and accessible by tennis club members. The tennis club already has the funding for this and that funding will be injected in to the BPFA to fund that aspect of the project.
In the remaining space, we intend to create a multi-sports area open to the community, along with an area for keeping the sports equipment for the clubs operating community sports on The Mead (football, etc).
These diagrams are only initial ideas – the space would go to consultation with the community - but to get a sense of how this might look, please see the plans below.
The more funds we raise, the better the options we'll have available to us. Agreement from the landlord and the land owner will also be required for anything beyond a refurbishment that sits within the existing foundations of the tennis courts.
An important note for transparency on Gift Aid and the flow of funds.
The BPFA organisation is yet to be formed and so the funds are being routed, for now, in to the tennis club's account and will be ported over immediately when the BPFA is created. This may impact our ability to claim the Gift Aid on your donation, but please fill in the information regardless and we will try as hard as we can to claim it.
Longer term impact
In the longer term, ideas including a full clubhouse would be desirable.
To be able to undertake these larger projects, we intend to try and raise additional monies through grants and sponsorships etc.
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will of course give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!
5. Be hands on. Get in touch f you would like to join the BPFA formation committee or the tennis club committee, be considered as a trustee of the BPFA, volunteer to help with either the build or the fundraising efforts
Thanks for reading!