ARTC Minutes 27.4.23

1. Apologies

Pauline Belt, Mary Jane Murray

1. Minutes of 9.3.23 Meeting

The minutes were amended to show that SW sent her apologies for the meeting on 9.3.23, before being accepted as accurate and signed by CH.

1. Matters Arising

CH has spoken to Brian Maunder about renaming the Spring Cup the Liz Maunder Spring Cup. There was discussion about whether it had originally been the Evening Press Cup, but no-one was sure. ACTION: CH to follow up.

1. Safeguarding

The LTA have sent out information about amending Safeguarding policies before October ’24. Given that we have only recently been audited, the general feeling was to review our policies sometime before Oct ’24 to comply with LTA guidelines.

Discussion followed around the option of how to include emergency contact details on members personal Profiles on Clubspark. ACTION: KT to include a reminder on Spring Newsletter.

GC offered to join the Safeguarding sub-committee, in light of his role as Health & Safety committee member. ACTION: Add GC to SSC.

1. Finance Report

ST informed the committee that £4,700 of new subs had been collected. Discussion followed about the need to be a fully paid- up member/day member to play in league tennis as part of club and league rules. It was agreed that team captains should ensure they were selecting members who have paid subs.  ACTION: ST to circulate list of current members to team captains and Fixtures Secretary.

1. Membership

ST said that currently we have: 52 Adults, 10 Juniors and 3 Family memberships.

1. Selection

SH summarised the positive response to the pre-season practises in helping the Selection Committee. She suggested that amending the Availability Forms might be a way to increase the response to the Pre-season Doodle. Discussion followed about how to balance playing players up and attracting new members to play at higher levels more suited to their skill level. SH explained that current numbers wishing to play league tennis means that everyone will get some form of competitive tennis as the season progresses.

SH explained the new online MyDivision results recording system that she and the captains are monitoring. Discussion followed about having deputy captains in case the captain was away and therefore the importance of them being up to speed with MyDivision recording methods.

Discussion followed about booking out courts for league matches. Currently, SH is booking out all games for mixed, ladies’ and men’s and for any rearranged games. CH thanked SH for all her work involved in co-ordinating the league fixtures and introducing a new system. ACTION: SH to review booking out process at the end of the season with a view to team captains doing it the following season.

1. Maintenance

GC asked if we needed PAT testing of electrical equipment due to the club size. It was generally felt that it might be judicious to do so even though an accident could be regarded as low risk. It was felt that it was also a condition of Howden’s risk assessment.

GC suggested that the Spring Newsletter could have a polite reminder for members to leave the clubhouse clean and tidy by tidying up after themselves.

GC explained that a box of ferrous sulphate, used for moss killing, was currently stored in the clubhouse which was not desirable. ACTION: MM to talk to Richard Barwick regarding safe storage.

CH thanked AM and VW for spring cleaning the clubhouse with her and GC and Julie Carpenter for ensuring cleaning materials were topped up. CH also discussed the poor condition of the paintwork of the doors and windows and suggested a programme of renovation at the end of the season. ACTION: CH to propose a date for repainting.

1. AoB

1. Several members had asked for keys from ST but there were some outstanding payments. ACTION: ST to remind individual members for £5 per key.

1. The directions to the club on the website are wrong. ACTION: KT to contact LTA to enquire about changing details on LTA template. VW to create amendment on club website.

1. TS discussed unveiling the David Bradley Memorial bench and the proposal of holding a Men’s Invitational Open Tournament in September at which David’s sister, Vivienne, could attend. It was agreed that inviting players who knew David would be more fitting and potentially would increase turnout. ACTION: To publicise the event in the Spring Newsletter.

1. Discussion was held about holding the Spring Cup In memory of Liz Maunder on Friday 16th June at 6.30pm. This is an attempt to boost numbers as only 8 members entered the last tournament. It was felt that refreshments at the Roebuck afterwards might encourage participation. ACTION: To publicise it in the Spring Newsletter.

1. VW agreed to take organise the Thursday Club Night Whatsapp group. ACTION: To publicise it in the Spring Newsletter.

1. GC said the LTA Howden’s risk assessment was currently not available despite the LTA request that it should be completed by the end of April. ACTION: KT/CH to monitor website in case it resolves issues of registering online whilst GC was away.

1. CH explained that the school PTA had enquired about using the courts for a Wimbledon Experience passport in June and that this would be a link into school. Also, that DG was planning to use the courts for a Sports Camp venue in June. ACTION: CH to find out more details from DG to ensure that courts would remain available for members to use whilst the camp was running.

Date of the next meeting is to be decided.

The meeting closed at 9.50pm