Elthorne Tennis

Update - 17th October 2025

Through the September / October period we have been generally lucky with the weather and court bookings and coaching sessions have been strong.

Our Adult Teams have made a great start to the season with wins for our Men's, Ladies and Mixed Teams. Team captains, Olivia Salisbury, Ranj Dhillon and Darrick Neptune are being supported by both our main coaches - Emre Koyunoglu and Francis Carrero. If you are reading this update and you would like to find out more about playing for one of our teams, please contact  Ranj Dhillon on 07496475754.

I would like to welcome James Killick to our coaching team, James is an LTA level 2 coach and has played at Elthorne since he was young. You will see James at weekends and the occassional weekday evening as he is a full-time university student. He will coach both the Adult and Junior Programme and is available for individual lessons, you can contact James on 07399504610.

New Café – Aces Café – Pop up

Our pop-up cafe is now fully functional and open 8am-5pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

You are be able to buy hot & cold drinks, Ice-creams, cakes & pastries, snacks, sandwiches. I'm manning the cafe on a daily basis with Josiah Oridota filling in when I'm away. I would say I am getting quite good at making coffee and am already proficient at making hot chocolate.  Sandwhiches are made fresh daily.

The cafe business is contactless so no cash payments.

For those that have visted in the last couple of weeks, you will have seen we have our first piece of outdoor furniture, in the form of an 8 seater table and bench combo. Made out of recycled plastic, it has a 15 year guarantee and will encourage people to congregate and meet new people. It is my aim that as time passes and I can afford it, I will purchase more tables. Further plans include; paving the grassed area, installing a seat around the cedar tree, building a gazebo for shelter and installing lights to the area.

The main café is still in the pipeline but the complications that the Council have experienced with their own procurement process has meant the project has finally been turned over to me to finish. Further complications with the Head of Ealing Parks leaving his job at the Council, with his replacement not in post until December, plus the Council Elections taking place early next year, means our cafe will probably not get started until summer next year........a very sorry affair.....

In brighter news, I'm really pleased to say I (and my able assistant Josiah Oridota) have finally finished the seating area on Court 2. It has come out better than expected and will allow players more space to put their belongings and to sit down during games. We have even got an umpire's chair in this space to make you feel "tennis authentic". 

My next little project on the horizon will see the installation of an ornate lamp post I uncovered by the MUGA courts. I'll be sprucing it up with some wire wool and a new coat of paint, once installed it will guide people to the various areas of interest in our park.

Water Fountain

I’m very pleased to announce we will be having a water fountain installed in the park, it will be sited close to the path crossroads by the children’s playground. No schedule has been announced yet but I will let you all know as soon as I’m told.

MUGA Courts

We have been using the courts behind the school for tennis bookings for this past year or more. In the main, the courts are mostly used for Junior and Adult LTA tournaments, for normal bookings it’s clear people would prefer to play on the painted Park courts.

It is true the courts are not as well looked after as the park courts, but I am hoping to upgrade the courts when I take over the courts from Everyone Active early next year. The upgrade will include; installing an electric gate,  painting the courts like the park courts, removing all the weeds surrounding the court surface and installing an LED floodlight system like the park courts. It is true that the MUGA courts are better protected against the wind, which mainly travels in from the west – hitting the Park courts to blow across the court – annoying for tennis players………..

Pickleball

We continue to run Pickleball sessions at Elthorne, the Club Sessions are scheduled in regularly.

Look on the Coaching Tab on the website for upcoming Pickleball sessions.

Pickleball Court Bookings

We also offer 1 hour court bookings for pickleball, this will include the courts being marked out and the nets being made up ready for 4 players to play. You will need to bring your own Pickleball Paddle and balls. You can make Pickleball court bookings by going to the Court Booking Tab on the website and clicking on the day you want and then clicking the arrow button next to the MUGA 4 column to expose the Pickleball courts. If you are booking a Pickleball court you are best off texting Matthew on 07876221259 to prompt him to set up the court.

Friends of Elthorne Park Action Group

It’s clear we have a very active community that uses Elthorne Park and the wider area that the park backs onto. With this in mind I’d like to bring together the community to further enhance our park experience by creating an action group. This might include;

• Litter picking groups
• The interests of dogs and dog walkers
• Improvement of the park’s horticulture and pathways
• Improvement of Notices and Noticeboards
• Art Installations
• A Park Run
• Events that might utilise the Bandstand

Ideally we would have a group of people meet to discuss the scope of how the park could be enhanced and action could follow from there. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Thank you

Matthew Cattaway

07876221259

matthew@cattaway.com