Dear Members
New LED Lights
I’m pleased to be able to report that the club has received a further grant from Viridor, this one to fund the upgrade of the court lights to LEDs (again, many thanks go to Martyn Hopwood for his continued talent for getting money for the club).
This means we can have new courts AND lights this year.
Luminance Pro – the lighting contractor – offered us the chance of getting the work done next week, before the court work starts, which we jumped at. (We now won’t have to worry about lighting equipment marking our lovely new court surface!) So – the courts will be out of action on the 13th/14th and maybe the 15th July (next week) Apologies for the short notice – it’s only just been arranged.
Court Resurfacing
Work will commence no earlier than 23rd July and will take 6-8 weeks, with the courts out of action. So, if all goes smoothly (including the weather), we could have our courts back by 4 September. But it could be as long as 18 September. As soon as we have a definite finish date we will let you know.
Club Play during this period
The club is financing the following club sessions, from w/c 20th July:
Wednesdays – at Exwick tennis Club, 2 courts from 2-4pm. These will be organised by Simon Grundy, much as he runs his Wednesday sessions now; ie with just 8 players each week, fairly selected, according to availability. These sessions will be open to all, so please contact Simon (simon.grundycornwall@gmail.com) if you wish to be part of this group and on his contact list.
Fridays – at Exwick, 2 courts, 2-4pm and co-ordinated by David Jolly.
These will probably be run as normal club sessions, but maybe a good idea to tell David (davidjolly@rocketmail.com) if you think you will be attending these sessions.
Sundays – at Sandford Tennis Club, 1 court from 2-4pm. You will need to contact Frederiek Maddock (frederiekmaddock@gmail.com) if you would like to play and she will co-ordinate accordingly.
Private Sessions
For players wishing to organise their own sessions, here are some
suggestions:
- Exwick – Steve Ashton (steve@exwicktennisclub.co.uk) and • Sandford – Richard Wilk (rjwilk001@hotmail.com) can be hired • Exeter City Council (exeter.gov.uk) has free public courts at Heavitree Pleasure Ground, Cowick Barton Playing Field, King George V Playing Field and Topsham Pleasure Ground.
- it is possible that the courts at Lords Meadow Crediton and at Exeter Uni will re-open during our closedown
Club Governance
In our last newsletter we consulted you about not holding an AGM in 2020 (because of the coronavirus lockdown), but instead rolling forward the current Committee until early 2021. There were no objections so this what we are doing.
The current Committee membership is: Elaine Hennessy (chair), Sally Baldwin, Jana Garnsworthy, Laura Leigh, Malcolm Nicholls, Anne Oxborough, Andrew Wiles.
Club Finances
Thanks to Martyn’s superb fundraising, and in spite of a drop in membership numbers (some of which we think may be only temporary, driven by the lockdown), we think – fingers crossed – that we will still have a positive bank balance of about £10k once the two contracts for lighting and resurfacing are complete. That will be a good position to be in.
Regards
Elaine Hennessy (Chair)