We are raising funds to make 4 of our courts safe to play on again and for a new shelter near the courts
by Brooklands Tennis Club in Sale, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
If we can hit the bigger target, we will be able to fit out our shelter with ply-wood walls, benches and hooks for coats and bags and we would buy brushes for the courts which would extend their life. The cost of all this would be around £3,800 for the fit out so allowing for a Gift Aid claim of around £2,500, we would need to raise an additional £1,300 on top of the original total of £17,200.
We are part of Brooklands Sports Club based in Sale, South West Manchester. A long-established club of 140 years, we are extremely fortunate to have large grounds in a well-populated area, with a thriving membership. The tennis section has over 500 members, of which around 200 are juniors. Since the start of 2021, 144 new members have joined the tennis section: 88 juniors and 56 adults.
We run 3 very popular and well-attended social sessions, have a fabulous and growing coaching programme for all ages and abilities, and have really successful adult and junior teams competing in summer and winter leagues.
Our facilities include 3 grass courts and 10 all-weather astro courts, 4 of which have floodlights.
The Covid pandemic hit our club hard: a subscription-holiday for members and our gym tenant going into administration means that our cash reserves have been completely used up. In 2019 we had £180,000 in the bank to support all our facilities (water based hockey pitch, 2 cricket pitches/lacrosse pitches, 3 squash courts and a bowls green, as well as the 13 tennis courts) and we are now down to less than £20,000 for the whole club - our sink-fund almost completely depleted.
Whilst things are now looking up, with a new gym tenant secured and a steady increase in members, it's going to take us quite some time to get back to where we were and in the meantime, costs continue to rise and interest in tennis is increasing. So right now the tennis section needs to bring in some funds of our own.
We are having to prioritise where to spend money on our facilities and consider that the two most pressing requirements are:
1. Making our courts safe again by addressing the surface conditions of some of the courts
2. Replacing the existing tennis storage hut and adding a shelter for players/spectators.
Based on our estimated costs for these priority projects, we are looking to raise £28,800. The Sports Club Board has agreed to donate £7,800 towards our projects, and from our tennis section and coaching programme we have £3,800, but this leaves us £17,200 to find. We are also hoping that Sport England will pledge £5,000 from their Active Together Fund. This would bring what we need to raise to £12,000 - a much more manageable target.
1. Making our courts safe again
The reduction in income really affected our court maintenance plan, with 4 of our courts now almost completely unplayable and in desperate need of a thorough cleaning, brushing and re-sanding before they become beyond repair. They are covered in a layer of dirty sand, and moss has started to grow on the carpet in patches and when it rains, they flood badly, making it even worse.
This means that we are very limited on court availability and already we are seeing court usage at the weekends almost at capacity. This is in January/February as us hardy northerners play outside all year round! Once we get to spring we just won't have enough courts available, and lovely though the grass courts are, you just can't depend on the weather here in Manchester to be able to use them when you need them.
We also have a new Head Coach at Brooklands and he is keen to explore opportunities to get more children and adults on the tennis courts. He wants to extend our programme in line with LTA inclusivity and diversity initiatives, and we want to widen our reach into the local community. We really want to encourage as many people as possible to take part in tennis - the sport that we are passionate about.
To do this, we already have a number of initiatives such as offering half price membership to adults for the first year; we hold Open Days to allow juniors and adults to come and have a try; anyone is allowed to join group coaching sessions for one half-term to see if they enjoy it before becoming a member; and we encourage adults to join in social sessions, again before they need to commit.
Our current programme shows that we have some successes in relation to diversity, with a good proportion of girls enjoying playing, coaching, and being successful in team tennis.
But there is more that we could do; including adding sessions such as Walking Tennis to our programme along with some of the Disability Tennis sessions such as Deaf and Visually Impaired Tennis. In order to do this we need the courts back in operation that we currently can't use.
2. Shelter/store
We have talked for a number of years about having a shelter near the courts for those times when showers appear from nowhere, or the wind suddenly whips up. We are very exposed on our courts and some way from the clubhouse. The old wooden shed which currently houses all the tennis equipment and ball machine is rotting, with holes in the floor and sides. It is very close to the end of its life. A new shelter would benefit so many - not just members of the club but also parents of juniors, spectators of matches, and particularly holiday camp attendees. We run some very popular holiday camps throughout the year, encouraging children from the ages of 4 to 16 to be active and outside, with a focus on movement and exercise through fun. They are on the courts as much as possible, but there are times when they have to get out of the rain quickly, and a local shelter will be much more practical than the 5 minute walk to the clubhouse. Gathering up equipment and getting 20-40 children, aged from 4 years up, moving quickly (with all their bags, racquets etc), can be somewhat of a challenge!
Last summer holidays we had 250 children attending holiday camps over the 7 weeks that it ran. These are all local children and as the camps are open to anyone (not just our members) it provides a valuable service to parents who need to work during school holidays, and want their kids to be active. We find that coming to our camps often leads to them sign up for lessons - they love our coaches and they develop a love of tennis too.
We aren't looking for anything fancy with our new shelter - just something practical and durable (and which can't be vandalised as a previous shed was burned down!). And in January 2023 we were granted planning permission to put a larger shelter in place of our existing old shed. We are probably looking at something like a refurbished container, similar to this one as this seems to be the most cost- effective solution.
The photo below was taken a number of years ago, but shows the courts in relation to the clubhouse (top left).
The top bank of tennis courts are the grass courts. The shelter would replace the existing shed (which can be just seen next to the second bank of courts, to the right of the hockey pitch). The 4 courts that are currently unplayable are at the bottom right of the photo - a bank of 3 courts and one on its own.
Despite the financial situation, the club Board has agreed to put in some funds, and we have some from the tennis section account from other fundraising activities. All of this, plus the money raised through Crowdfunding will go towards these projects. If we over-reach our target, we can fit-out the shelter, lining the walls, providing some benches and hooks for bags and coats. We'd need just under £4,000 for this.
We will post regular updates on our website, Facebook and Instagram pages to let you know how we are getting on. Make sure you follow us on Facebook: Brooklands Tennis Club, Instagram: Officialbrooklandstennis, and check the website www.brooklandstennis.com
There are two simple ways in which you can help us reach our target, and make our projects a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay - do it now 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 and the quicker we will reach our target
Even a small donation will make a big difference!
Brooklands Tennis is one of the sporting sections within Brooklands Sports Club (Brooklands Cricket, Lawn Tennis & Hockey Club Ltd)
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