MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Annual Subscriptions
THE MEMBERSHIP YEAR RUNS FROM 1ST MARCH TO 28/29TH FEBRUARY.
All subscriptions are payable by 1st March. If the subscription has not been paid within one month that Member will cease to be a Member of the Club. If this person wishes to re-join the Club, they may do so by paying the full membership fee plus a Joining Fee of £25 per adult for Playing Memberships (no Joining Fee for Juniors), if a vacancy exists.
Please Note: A Joining Fee of £25 per adult is payable if renewal subscriptions are not received by 31st March.
Applying for Membership
Applications for membership are made through the Membership Secretary to the Management Committee.
New members will be asked to pay the Joining Fee and full Annual Subscription Fee if joining between 1st March and 30th September. If joining on 1st October or after, a proportion of the Annual Subscription Fee plus the Joining Fee according to the number of months left in the renewal year, will be requested.
Membership Categories
There are two basic categories of membership, i.e Playing and Non-playing. Under the current Club Constitution and Rules, a maximum of 600 places are available for Playing Memberships. The Parish Council approved this on condition that the Club guaranteed that Bearsted & Thurnham residents will have priority, and that there would always be places available for such residents. Places not taken up by Bearsted & Thurnham residents can be offered to persons residing outside the parishes. If there are no places available, non-resident applicants will be placed on a waiting list. Social members are not included in the limit of 600.
Playing Memberships
The types of Playing Membership available are defined as follows:
FAMILY - A Playing Membership for husband and wife, partnerships and single parents and as many of their children under the age of 18* years, or those in full time attendance at a recognised educational establishment under the age of 25* years, as they wish to include. On reaching the age of 18* or 25* years of age, as applicable, a child must take up Senior Membership in their own right.
SENIOR - An individual Playing Membership for persons aged 18* years or over.
JUNIOR - An individual Playing Membership for persons under the age of 18* years, or under the age of 25* years if in full-time attendance at a recognised educational establishment.
Please note: The Management Committee reserves the right to ask for proof of full time attendance at a recognised educational establishment, if aged between 18 and 24.
COUNTRY - A Playing Membership for existing Members with full membership, who have had to move to a new home outside the Kent county boundary. The number of places available shall be limited to ten and will not be included in the total number of persons registered as Playing Members. Country Members may attend and speak at General Meetings of the Club but do not have a vote and are not eligible to represent the Club in league matches.
HONORARY – Honorary Life and Annual (Playing) Memberships are awarded at the discretion of the Management Committee and such Members have full voting rights.
* Age on 1st March of the Membership year
Non-playing Memberships
SOCIAL - A Membership for persons who shall be entitled to use and enjoy the entire Club facilities and activities except the playing of tennis.
Suspended Memberships
Not currently applicable
Gate Keys
New members are issued with a gate key, for which a refundable £5 key deposit is charged. Replacement front gate keys may be purchased from the Membership Secretary. If you do not renew your membership or leave the tennis Club for some other reason, please return the gate key to the Membership Secretary, who will refund your £5. If you do not require a gate key, please tell the Membership Secretary during the joinig process.
Transfer of Membership
Playing Members may transfer at any time to any other type of membership, except Honorary, providing there are vacancies. Members who transfer from a Senior or Junior Membership to a Family Membership, shall be liable to pay the difference between the respective Annual Subscriptions. This does not apply, however, to individual Junior Members or to children in a Family Membership, who are required to transfer to a Senior Membership on reaching 18 or 25 years of age (as applicable).
Social Members wishing to transfer to a Playing Membership must apply in the same way as new members.
Waiting List
If no vacancies are available for non-residents at the time of application, the applicant may apply to be placed on the Waiting List for which there is an administration charge of £10.00. This will be deducted from the Subscription fee when the applicant joins the club, but will not be refunded if the applicant subsequently declines to join the club or requests to be removed from the Waiting List.
When vacancies become available, applicants will be invited to apply for membership, in strict order according to the date that they were placed on the Waiting List.
When invited to join the Club, an applicant may opt to defer joining the Club for up to 12 months and will remain ‘On Hold’ at the top of the Waiting List. However, if the second invitation is declined, the applicants’ name will be placed at the bottom of the Waiting List.
Last updated: September 2022