Draycott & Long Eaton Table Tennis Club

Safe flooring for Draycott 

Please help us raise the final £18k necessary to reach our project goal to replace the club's worn out and damaged flooring ... ensuring the safety of all users.

We have two adjacent sports halls occupying 457 sq m of flooring (almost 5,000 square feet). These are used 7-days-a-week for training and competition, an active Over 50’s club and a thriving junior section. 

Playing a key part in the local community, the facilities are also used by a Tae Kwon Do club, an ‘Exercise for the Heart’ group with twice-weekly rehab for those recovering from heart attacks and strokes, and our local primary school who use the club for PE lessons and table tennis coaching.

Flooring Project 

We are seeking your support to upgrade the sports hall floors which, because of exceptional use over the past 16 years, are now desperately in need of replacement.

Suffering from extreme wear, the floors have become smooth and shiny, are now slippery in places and some of the welded seams have started to split, and are at risk of lifting. This is beginning to impact the safety of users who, in addition to aspiring athletes, include many elderly people.

Once completed, hopefully during the summer of 2023, the Flooring Project will assure the safety of all users whilst providing the highest quality sports conditions. The project involves removing the top layer of floor sheeting in both halls, making necessary repairs to the semi-sprung underfloor and re-laying with a new, non-slip vinyl surface. The total project cost will be in the region of £50,000.  

To date, we've raised £32k through increased fees, grants, donations and promises.  So now we're seeking your support to help us close the gap and raise the final £18,000.

About us

Draycott & Long Eaton Table Tennis Club was formed in 1989.  We moved to our current venue in 1999, became a registered charity in 2003 and upgraded our facilities with a 2nd hall in 2006.

Since then, we have grown in strength to become one of the top 5 table tennis clubs in the country, gaining considerable success.  We now run 18 teams across the Derby, Nottingham and Loughborough leagues, and 15 teams in the British League ... and our members have won 15 national titles over the past 18 months!

With a thriving junior section of more than 60 players, our coaching team introduce the sport to complete beginners then continue the training right through to national standard, with several players competing in international events.  We recently sent a squad of 16 juniors to compete in the Riga Youth Cup in Latvia and have also twinned with a club in France.     

It gives us great pride that Draycott & Long Eaton Table Tennis Club has twice been winner of the Derbyshire Sports Awards ‘Club of the Year’ (for all sports). 

Looking forward 

Whilst the pandemic certainly slowed us down, we believe we must make every effort to continue providing top class facilities and replacing the floor will see the club once again offering some of the best table tennis playing conditions in the country, allowing us to build membership back up to pre-Covid levels.  

Furthermore, we will be able to continue hosting major table tennis events such as British League, county matches and veterans’ tournaments which would otherwise be lost if our facilities were allowed to fall into decay.  

Also, completing the Flooring Project will give us confidence in our plans to establish a local centre for disabled table tennis, starting with training for wheelchair players in 2023. 

How you can help 

Although we believe that cost should never be a barrier to participation in sport, we have made modest increases in membership and coaching fees. Even so, they are not sufficient to see us reach our target.

However, with hard work from our committee, supported by dedicated volunteers, parents and coaches, we have so far managed to raise just over £32,000. Now we need your support to raise the final £18,000 and meet the £50,000 total cost of the Flooring Project.  

There are six ways you can support us:

You can make a one-off card donation, or a regular monthly donation.  For UK tax payers - don't forget to add Gift Aid!

• You can donate some, or all, of your Nectar points.
• You can create your own personal fundraising activity, as a sub-project of this page, by selecting 'Fundraise for this charity' (at the top of this page).  Creating your own fundraiser is really simple - you won't need any bank details ... just a fun idea!
• You can become a 'virtual owner' of a plot of the new floor and be recognised on our noticeboard for perpetuity by clicking here.
• You can share the link https://crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dlettc on your social media pages - just ask your friends and family to get behind us! 
• If you are a local business, you can donate goods or services that we can offer to our supporters. We promise to give you a shout out!

Please help us reach our goal with a donation

Every contribution, however small, will make a real difference.

We recognise that these are difficult times and are appreciative of any donation you can make.

• As little as £20 will demonstrate your support for this important project.
• If you can, a bigger sum or a monthly donation will fetch us closer to our goal. 
• Donating rewards or things we can offer to our supporters will also maintain momentum and keep the project fresh!

note – for UK taxpayers, if you click the Gift Aid button we can claim a further 25% from HMRC, increasing the impact of your donation