A bit about Chalford Tennis Club
Chalford Tennis Club has been at the heart of the Chalford and wider community for over 50 years. We currently have have 366 members aged 4 to 87 and our membership continues to grow as we attract an increasing number of families and young people from the Stroud area and beyond who come to play all year round on our 5 all weather Tennis Courts and 4 Pickleball Courts.
The club offers a huge range of activities for its members catering for both adults and juniors throughout term time. In the school holidays we run holiday camps for ages 4 to 16. Other activities that take place include, Cardio Tennis for extra fitness, 4 social sessions for all abilities, walking tennis for those who still want to play but are recovering from injury or have mobility issues. Box leagues for members to try their hand at competitive tennis within the club as well as League Tennis against other Clubs.
We have an annual Club Championships, which includes junior events, along with adult singles, doubles and mixed. And for 2024 we have the newly added Over 70's categories as well as our first Pickleball Club Championships which will all run on the same day. We are trying to include as many members as possible to be part of the special day. All of these activities are supported by the brilliant Griffin Tennis Coaches, Ben and Bjorn.
It is a lively, sociable club with a growing membership which offers Pay and Play opportunities to the community, with many of club activities open to non-members and the courts being regularly used by local schools.
The Club is managed by a dedicated and amazing team of volunteers, who manage the upkeep, maintenance, social media, marketing, membership, safeguarding, along with running regular competitions and social events for the members. In June we launched Pickleball and have got many existing members involved, including juniors as well as gaining new interest. The Pickleball community is growing and we have weekly socials, coaching, box leagues and we have also played many matches against other local clubs. We are always looking for new initiatives to move the club forwards, ensuring we are engaging all different ages and abilities to keep active.
Why are we crowdfunding?
The Vision
To become the modern club we aspire to, we need to replace our old tennis hut with a safe, accessible, insulated pavilion where members and visitors can meet to watch match play, to shelter when picking up and dropping off children for coaching and where visiting teams can be hosted. And, importantly, a space where those with disabilities can feel welcome and included.
What we have now
The club has made great strides in the the last five years adding two clay courts, replacing the old flood lights with modern LEDs, replacing fencing along with lots of other maintenance work. As we have recently introduced Pickleball as a sport and have a growing membership base, who would like to use the off court facilities, we need a bigger inside space to congregate. Whilst the courts have been kept spick and span, the club hut and the access hasn't been upgraded in 23 years and sadly neither are fit for purpose by todays standards.
Specifically the old hut is uninsulated - freezing in winter and sweltering in summer, the floor is coming away from the walls, the doors don't shut which has lead to problems locking and it rests on bricks leading to rubbish blowing underneath and rodent infestation. It is also unsecure.
In addition the path that leads up to the courts has a step up, is uneven, slippery and unsuitable for wheelchairs or buggy's.
How we’ll spend the money raised
We would like to carry out groundworks and upgrades surrounding the tennis courts and hut to;
1. Purchase or build an an insulated, modern pavilion similar to the ones shown with integrated storage.
2. Make the access to the tennis courts wheelchair and buggy friendly by replacing the step and uneven surface with a slope.
3. Provide an accessible all weather outside seating area next to the pavilion with shelter from sun/rain.
4. Update and replace the electrics to potentially include getting rid of the token boxes and replacing with on/off switch.
Community impact
Chalford Tennis Club serves a population of about 10,000 people from an area surrounded by the villages of Bussage, Brownshill and Brimscombe and Bisley all of which have growing populations with young families. The club therefore provides a much needed resource to enable young families to take part in Tennis and Pickleball either through membership or the local schools.
The area also has around 1,000 people registered as disabled, some of whom would value the opportunity to use the courts if they were more accessible. We already know there is a demand for more accessible Tennis due to the success of walking tennis.
A more accessible pavilion and courts would encourage people to join the club increasing the likelihood of it remaining viable.
A better insulated club hut would meet the desire of the club to lower its environmental impact which it started by introducing LED lighting, a bike rack and recycling bins. It also fits with ChalCANs objectives.
More attractive facilities would give the club the opportunity to host events and invite the community in, thereby encouraging more people to be active and enjoy sport, meet people and make friends.
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! We need everyone to do their part to turn our vision into reality. If all our adult members pledged a minimum of £25.00 we would then have quarter of our target but obviously if you are able to give more that would be amazing.
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 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! This would be very much appreciated as we need lots of input!
Please step forwards to offer your support to turn out dream into reality!