Let There Be Light

Aim

Our project aim is to raise funds for LED lighting on our bubble courts, help remedy our financial position and repair the Clubhouse thatch.

STRETCH TARGET £75,000 

Our stretch target is based on the estimated cost of LED lighting for our bubble courts, the amount required to remedy our financial position and the cost of essential repairs to our Clubhouse thatch. Please help us to reach our target and we will reward you with one of our many outstanding gifts, offers and deals! 

Open Day at the Club

Who are we?

Frinton-on-Sea Lawn Tennis Club is a not-for-profit multi-sports and social club. We have a rich heritage of over 120 years. We offer tennis, squash, gym, fitness classes, walking football, swimming and croquet together with a vast range of events and social activities which serve the local and wider community.

Working Out in the Gym

Why are we crowdfunding now? 

The Coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on our Club’s finances mainly the general depletion of our funds and our inability to put money aside for capital projects.

One such capital project is the replacement of our existing floodlights with LED. Our existing floodlights are continually failing, are expensive to replace and costly to run. LED produces a better quality of light, is more reliable, has much greater longevity, is less costly to run and is more environmentally friendly. At present we have 6 lights not working, so this is our main priority.

Our bubble and floodlights

We also need donations to help restore some of our funds to allow us more time to get back on our feet and to carry out other essential work such as repairing the Clubhouse thatch.

A tournament with Clubhouse Thatch in background

Will you back us?

We are appealing to you to donate as much as you are able to this crowdfunding project. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. Gift aid is available if you tick the gift aid box and complete a few details.

Junior Tennis in the Bubble

What the money raised will do?

The money raised will be used to install LED lighting on the bubble courts. The existing working lights on the bubble courts will then be used to replace those not working on the other courts and to provide replacements for future failures.

This will help to ensure a safe and well-lit space, ensure a secure Clubhouse, buy us time to get back on our feet and ensure the Club continues to serve the local community.

Anyone for Croquet 

Croquet before Coffee in the Bar

Who will benefit?

In addition to the benefits to members aged under 10 and over 80, we host county, national and international tennis tournaments which benefit top quality tennis players. Our coaches provide coaching for most of our sports and for persons with disabilities. We have recently joined the Croquet Association. We have a wide variety of catering options in our Bistro including traditional favourites, themed dinners, Sunday lunches and summer poolside menu. These are open to members and the local and wider community. We also host a considerable number of events which benefit this community. We host weddings, tea dances, wine tastings, quizzes, parties for adults, parties for children, easter egg hunts, wakes and numerous Christmas events. We also host literary evenings and talks such as that recently given by Jamie Butterworth, the famous horticulturist. Our Clubhouse is used for Jazz, Comedy and Music Events, and the famous Frinton Summer Theatre, the oldest summer theatre in the UK. This wide array of activities attracts a wide array of people. This may all be lost without your help. 

Music Concert in the Clubhouse

Jamie Butterworth at the Club

 The Coronavirus pandemic has made it even more important that the local community has a facility on it's doorstep which provides opportunities for meeting people and keeping fit. All age groups will benefit. Being a non-profit organisation, all donations will be used for the benefit of the local community.

Swimming Pool on a Summer's Day

Our story in detail

 Founded in 1899 with a rich history of sporting and social activities, the Club has always been at the centre of the community. Back in its zenith it hosted some of the most popular tournaments in the country seen as a warm up venue to Wimbledon. Celebrities and famous tennis players all visited regularly. In more recent times, the Club has struggled to regain its former glory days. 

 Recently we have rebranded, upped the quality of our sporting offer, held membership days, social events, put food back on the menu. And so we continued on our journey and transformed our gym with state of the art Technogym Equipment. We upgraded our grass tennis courts with a new sprinkler system, upgraded the Club's bar and cleaned our hard courts. We invited the Walton Swifts to join us as they needed a floodlit home to play walking football. 

Walking Footballers Christmas Fancy Dress 

At the beginning of 2020 we were looking forward to an exciting year ahead. On the 23rd March 2020 we, along with venues up and down the country, had to close our doors as a result of the pandemic. Although many members stuck with us, some felt it was a luxury they could no longer afford. Although we were able to open our facilities over the summer, the tournaments were cancelled and many of our usual events and functions were cancelled too. We made it through the summer period and managed to open our refurbished gym, launch a new poolside catering offer and serve delicious Sunday lunches too. We even invested in creating pods to use our ballroom whilst only six people could congregate at any one time together. 

Sunday Lunch in the Bar

With hand sanitiser everywhere, a one way system in place and Covid secure events organised we managed the Club's finances so that for the first time in forever, we'd break even. Then the second lockdown in November arrived and even our scaled back Christmas and New Year plans were cancelled. And here we are in a third national lockdown unable to open our doors, with the Club's survival at stake. 

 We have big plans to make sure we can survive and thrive again. This historic Club is as contemporary, welcoming and inclusive as ever it has been. We mustn't let it close. We serve the whole community from the tea dances and events we hold for older Members and non-members alike to the junior tennis, coaching and our ever popular swimming pool... these benefit our younger Members. And everyone in-between. We have brought back croquet for the first time in over 30 years. There really is something for everyone. We have some of the finest grass tennis courts in the country but so much more to offer. With your help we'll re-open again and continue to serve our community with sporting and social events and a welcoming club for members and the local community. 

This project successfully funded on 23rd March 2021