Well it is March now, and we have to believe the weather is going to improve. Dave Winton and his band of volunteers will be trying to repair the ravages of winter on the grounds on Saturday morning from 1000hrs on 28 March 2020. Please let him know if you are available to help. Remember, many hands make light work dave.winton@btinternet.com

Congratulations to Ryan Harper-Bermejo who has been awarded Surrey LTA Young Volunteer of the year and will be in the hat for regional and potentially national Young Volunteer of the year.

AGM Highlights

Chairman 

The AGM on 4 March 2020 was Michael Vaughan’s last as Chair, and we took the opportunity to to thank him for the spectacularly successful leadership and inspiration he has provided for the Club over the past 5 years.This had culminated in him raising over £100k in grant funding in 2019 for the disabled tennis section and the renewal of the courts and floodlights. Our Secretary, John Davey, presented him with a trophy engraved ‘To our £100k Man’ to commemorate his time as Chairman and he was given a sustained standing ovation by those present.

Michael took the opportunity to thank the Members of the Management Team, the Club and Team Captains, the volunteers in every area of the Club, the husbands, wives and partners that support them and who put up with a great deal as a result. Lastly he thanked his wife Sandra for her invaluable support

Geoff Green is also stepping down as Treasurer and we are pleased to welcome Bob Jones onto the management Team as his replacement. We also welcome Tony Camacho,  Nathan Ascott and Katherine Willis onto the management Team without specific portfolio.

As there were no candidates to take over as Chair, responsibility for chairing Management Team Meetings will be shared by the Trustees meeting by meeting, and it is hoped that a new Chair will emerge in the coming year

Treasurer

Geoff Green reported that the Purley Bury Tennis Club Charity (CIO) had generated a loss of £37k in 2019 as a result of expenditure on the new courts and lights and the Club House. However the Charity still had £53k in hand at the bank which was a fantastic achievement. The budget for 2020 forecast a surplus of £16k after payment of outstanding bills for the courts, electrics and trees. This would be required for the sinking fund.

Bar

Robbie Watt reported that PBTC Social Ltd had generated a surplus of over £5K which had been donated to the Tennis Club Charity. This was less than in previous years due to expenditure on refurbishment, lower margins as a result of increased costs and a reduction in sales when the courts were closed. Consequently there would be selective price increases as follows:

Draught lager and cider from £3.50 to £3.90 – half pint from £1.80 to £2.00                                

Mini wine bottles from £3.50 to £3.90                                          

Kleindal 125ml from £2.00 to £2.20 – 175ml from £3.00 to £3.10 (bottle to stay at £12)

Prosecco mini bottles from £4.50 to £4.90 

Prosecco large bottles from £16.50 to £17.00 

Secretary

John Davey Reported that with the refurbishment of the lights and courts, the 5 year plan was complete. To build on that success two objectives had been set:

Firstly, to grow adult playing membership of the club by 20% and in particular to: 

• increase the pool of players interested in playing matches 
• redress the imbalance of male and female players by encouraging more women to join 
• increase the use of the courts during the day on weekdays 
• encourage more people to start playing tennis

Secondly, to have a minimum of £75,000 in the sinking fund by 31 December 2024 with a stretch target of £100,000. The major maintenance projects had been completed. In view of the Club’s healthy financial position, it was possible to consider further projects subject to the requirements of the sinking fund being met.

Membership Secretary

Sarah Wilson said that whilst The Club  had maintained a healthy level of membership in 2019 it needed to ensure a flow of new adult members into The Club to sustain the playing activities and the Management Team. A major marketing campaign was being launched on the website, facebook, and The Riddlesdown Recorder to drive up membership on the back of the upgraded facilities at the Club. There would also be a leaflet campaign and regular open days including LTA open days. Members were asked to make sure potential members were made welcome, and to encourage their friends to try the club. The target for revenue from subscriptions in 2020 was £27.5k with a stretch target of £30k.

Subscriptions had not been increased for 5 years, and in view of the improved facilities it was agreed to increase Full Adult Membership from £210 to £220 per annum and Social Membership from £15 to £20 per annum. 

Membership information will be transferred onto the LTA system, Clubspark to improve record keeping and communications with members. Members will be asked to provide emergency contact details and information about any medical conditions to be kept on this system. Provision of this information will be on a voluntary basis

Tennis

Mark Love reported that the Junior sessions had been restructured as New to tennis, Club Programme – for those children playing once a week and Tour Programme – for those children playing at least twice a week and in external competitions. The intention was that parents would have a better understanding of where to place their children when booking tennis lessons. Parents would also be encouraged to take up Parent Membership to help their children. Junior Team Tennis, Holiday Tennis and Junior Night on Fridays would continue as usual.

Rusty Rackets would continue as a route into the Club for new members

The highly successful disabled sessions would also continue

Amy Love thanked all the team captains and the rota and single organisers for the work they had done to make tennis enjoyable for the Members. The Tournament had been a success and the Teams had performed creditably.

It was agreed to increase the match practice fee from £2 to £3 to more accurately reflect the cost of providing of new balls and the use of floodlights for 2hrs+ each night over the year.

Amy announced that she would be standing down as Club Captain as of 30 April 2020, although she would continue as Ladies First Team Captain, and organise the Club Ball. She would also help the new Club Captain

It was agreed that Chris Backway, the Mens Captain, would take over the administrative roles and the organisation of the Tournament, supported by Nathan Ascott who would be focusing on encouraging participation in the various tennis sessions. Nathan said he would be looking to encourage players of all levels in the club to join in. It was hoped that a new Ladies Captain would emerge in the near future.

Social Co-ordinator’s Report

Alison Brown said that she hoped to operate with an informal sub-committee and that new volunteers were always welcome to come up with new ideas and help organise events. She was keen to run different events to supplement Pam’s ever popular Quiz Nights according to what Members were interested in attending. 

 

Club House Hire

Don’t forget, members can hire the Club House for private functions at very reasonable rates. Contact  Robbie rjwatt@outlook.com

Subscriptions 2020

Subscriptions for the new season are due by the first of May 2020. Please look out for your renewal notice that will be sent to you by email.

Wimbledon Tickets 

The club has been allocated 16 pairs of Wimbledon tickets:

• 6 pairs for Centre court including 1 pair for Ladies Finals Day
• 7 pairs for Court One
• 3 pairs for Court Two

As in recent years we will use the LTA online system to allocate tickets randomly to eligible opted in members. We will look to do this in the next couple of weeks. Once this process has started the LTA will inform the successful members. Any declined or missed deadline tickets will be randomly re-assigned.

Please note opt in is now closed. Opt in was from 9th Sept 2019 until 14Feb 2020.

Dates For Your Diary

Saturday 28 March 2020 1000-1300hrs Dave Winton’s garden working party. Contact dave.winton@btinternet.com

Saturday 4 April 2020 1900-2300hrs Pam’s Quiz Night

£3 Entry. 6 PEOPLE PER TEAM

Only 1 person in the team needs to be a member so do invite your friends.

Please feel free to bring (or order) your own food.

If you’d like to take part please email Pam Hart pammhart@hotmail.co.

Friday 8 – Sunday 10 May VE Day Celebrations – watch out for further details or contact Alison Brown  alibgood@icloud.com

 

Your Purley Bury Management Team