Farnham Common Tennis Club
2025 AGM Minutes
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the AGM on the 19th November. Great interaction and good to see everyone.
Please see detailed minutes below, these are draft till they are approved at the 2026 AGM. Any questions please let Chair Peter St Lawrence know. Please keep enjoying your tennis!
DRAFT MINUTES – TO BE AGREED AT 2026 AGM
Attendees (21 Adult members, 0 U18 members) Exceeded quorum of 15
Peter St Lawrence Maggie Southerden
Helen Sutton Penny McPhillips
Judy D’Arcy Karen Coull
Lyndsay Breeze Aman Kohli
Kirsten Stephens Vicky Spooner
Alan Polding Simon Lazenby (head coach)
Sue Salmon Glen Anstey
Tim Needham Simon Bailey
James Swain Rob Coull
Lucinda Quixley Gill Prout
Bronwen Harding
Apologies Carol Wilson, Tony D’Arcy, Richard Spooner, Diane Davies, Ian Sadler, Rajul Mehta, Nicky Myerscough, Jai Bhatia, Richard Davies, Lou Rankin, Sandra Buckledee, Dave Barrell, David Breeze, Tracie Hicks
Chair opening remarks
Richard Thomas opened up introducing himself as Club Chair of the Main Sports Club, it’s a requirement for an officer to attend the AGM’s of individual sections. He highlighted how thrilled he is with the tennis section and sees it thriving. The main committee are very supportive of the tennis section and their requests.
The existing committee resigned and then were re-elected.
Peter St Lawrence chaired the meeting after the election.
Election of Officers
Role Incumbent New nominations Nominated by Seconded by
Chair / Secretary Peter St Lawrence Peter St Lawrence Sue Salmon Aman Kohli
Communications Officer Helen Sutton Helen Sutton Judy D’Arcy Maggie Southerden
Fixtures Secretary Aman Kohli Aman Kohli Helen Sutton Alan Polding
Maintenance Officer Alan Polding Alan Polding Peter St Lawrence Maggie Southerden
Welfare Officer Kirstin Stephens Kirstin Stephens Aman Kohli Sue Salmon
Junior Co-ordinator Jai Bhatia Jai Bhatia Judy D’Arcy Helen Sutton
Youth Representative(s) Does not need to attend committee
Membership Officer / Clubspark Administrator Sue Salmon Sue Salmon Peter St Lawrence Kirsten Stephens
Ladies Captain Vicky Spooner Vicky Spooner Kirsten Stephens Sandra Buckeldee
Men’s Captain James Swain James Swain
Vicky Spooner Jai Bhatia
Events Organiser Judy D’Arcy Judy D’Arcy Helen Sutton James Swain
ROLES OF FARNHAM COMMON TENNIS CLUB COMMITTEE
CHAIRPERSON: organise/chair meetings, attend main club committee, represent tennis within main club, manage coach
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: take minutes, maintain website, send out update emails to members, liaise with LTA and county
MEN’S CAPTAIN: manage men’s teams, run tournaments, liaise with coach
LADIES’ CAPTAIN: manage ladies and mixed teams, run tournaments, liaise with coach
JUNIOR COORDINATOR: work with coach to increase and develop players under 18, liaise with parents, help organise junior events
WELFARE OFFICER: champion of welfare within main club framework
FIXTURES OFFICER: organise and maintain fixtures with other clubs
MEMBERSHIP OFFICER: monitor and develop membership numbers, welcome new members and overall grow the membership, main LTA contact and clubspark court booking manager
MAINTENANCE OFFICER: monitor assets to maintain effectiveness and sustainability
SOCIAL OFFICER / EVENTS ORGANISER: promote social side of the club, maintain social media, run tournaments
YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE: a young person to ensure the voice of younger members is heard – does not need to attend committee
Adoption of Minutes from 2024 AGM
Approved, proposed by Alan Polding and Sue Salmon. No matters arising.
We sent out all 2025 AGM reports via email on the 15th November prior to AGM so rather than read to you we could spend more time at the meeting discussing improvements, addressing current issues and getting input from members. Please do always send him discussion points you would like to raise at any point to p.stlawrence@btinternet.com
Chairman's report: Peter St Lawrence
Peter opened up acknowledging how thriving the club is, social tennis on Sundays, the social scene with quiz nights, Christmas lunch coming up and overall the wide participation. He highlighted Judy in particular for all the social effort she has done.
Report sent ahead of time:
It has been a generally positive year for the tennis section. We are the largest section in the club and have continued with a stable membership.
Coaching was again the big challenge as Alison left with no notice. We arranged some temporary cover with James Martin which was very popular. We appointed Simon Lazenby as our new coach with an expectation of a September start, then he suffered a no notice walk out from his deputy and has had to defer the start. This was of course disappointing but given his track record at his previous club we felt it was worth waiting.
So we anticipate coaching programs starting fully in January. Simon has started working with Jai and Hugo to ensure continuity, so with a fair wind we will be in better shape next year.
The new lights on courts 3 & 4 are already a major success and will enable us to accommodate more on club nights through out the winter. The launch competition on 5 November, run so well by Tim, was very well attended and enjoyed by all.
We continue to work the junior school, and all classes used the courts for tennis as their PE in the first half of the Autumn term. We hope to maintain and build on this to generate interest and new memberships for the club. This year out new coach Simon attended some of these sessions so that is a step forward.
We ran both Play your way to Wimbledon tournaments as well as the club championship, which again had increased participation, and I will update the honours board soon Zoe! We again struggled to raise enough interest for a junior championship which was disappointing and hope that we can build that up so we can hold that in 2026.
The Paul McPhilips draw took place on the 5th and numbers are up from last year with 15 pairs playing.
We continue to run the Farnham Common winter league – thanks to Lucinda Quixley for that. This year we have entered 2 teams – gents we need you to commit to these matches.
I would like to thank our committee. We are by far the most active section of the club – Judy and Tim have really driven events and participation. Kirsten has kindly helped out the squash section on H&S and we know Alan basically has maintained the whole club single handedly. Aman has modernised the fixtures program with spreadsheet heaven and our captains have run the teams with great enthusiasm.
However, there are always people who have served for a while and would like to reclaim some of their time back. So, if you feel willing to contribute to growing the club, please do come forward,
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Welfare Officers: Kirsten Stephens
FCTC Welfare Officer is the first point of contact for members, coaches, children or parents if they have any concerns regarding Welfare and Safeguarding at the tennis club, which can be discussed confidentially.
Thankfully there have been very few accidents or incidents reported this year. The accident book in the pavilion is regularly checked and the first aid kit checked and re-stocked and the Safeguarding section of the noticeboard in Pavilion is up to date with information, advice and posters.
Welfare is an agenda item at every Committee meeting, and we work together with the coaches to ensure that relevant Safeguarding training courses are attended, certificates, policies and risk assessments are up to date, records are kept and to generally ensure that we maintain a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.
A Committee safeguarding training session took place in March 2024 and refresher committee training is noted to be held every three years.
After a number of years, our current Welfare Officer, Kirstin Stephens, is looking to hand over the role after this year’s AGM.
The role is not overly onerous or demanding on time and prior experience is not required although the role may allow you to utilise any skills or experience you may already have.
If you are approachable and trustworthy, engaging and supportive, able to resolve conflict, a good listener and professional and helpful, then you could be a real asset to our club and support a safe and inclusive environment for all!
Although Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility, the Welfare Officer is an important part of the Tennis Committee and we would welcome you to join us.
All safeguarding policies and documents are up to date and you would get a full handover and training as required.
To meet Venue Safeguarding Standards, Welfare Officers must attend an LTA approved safeguarding course (approx. 3 hours’ time commitment) and apply for a valid DBS.
For a more detailed understanding on the role of a Welfare Officer, please see the LTA Welfare Officer role Description here:
https://www.lta.org.uk/4abd2c/siteassets/about-lta/file/welfare-office-role-description.pdf
If you’d like to discuss or find out more, please don’t hesitate to contact any Committee Member or Kirstin Stephens on 07740 472695
In the meeting Peter encouraged people to take ownership of reporting any incidents or issues.
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Ladies Captain report: Vicky Spooner
It has Ladies’ tennis at Farnham Common Tennis Club has continued to thrive over the past year, with another season of great commitment and continued improvement across all levels. It has been wonderful to see so many ladies getting involved - whether at social sessions or out representing the club in matches.
Monday evening Tennis
Our ever popular Monday evening sessions continue to be a highlight of the week and remain wonderfully organised by Maggie Southerden. These evenings are always well supported and provide a welcoming mix of friendly play and gentle competition, bringing together members of all abilities.
Fixtures and thanks
A special mention must go to Aman Kohli, who took on the role of Fixtures Secretary for the first time this year and has done a fantastic job keeping everything running smoothly. Coordinating matches and teams is no small task, and Aman’s calm and efficient approach has been much appreciated by everyone.
Summer teams
It has been another encouraging year for our ladies’ teams, with the overall standard of play continuing to improve and strong results across the board.
The Ladies first team had a fantastic run, celebrating two strong wins - a decisive 7-1 victory against High Wycombe and a closely contested 5- 3 win over Hambledon. They followed up with two hard-fought draws against Prestwood and Aston Park, showing great teamwork and determination throughout. The final standings were incredibly close, with the top two teams sharing first place and us finishing a proud second.
The Ladies second team, captained by Penny, enjoyed a very positive season filled with strong performances and great team spirit. Highlights included impressive 5-3 wins against Wooburn Park and Penn & Tylers Green, as well as a well-earned 4 - 4 draw with Marlow. The team’s determination and camaraderie shone through in every match - a huge thank you to Penny for her commitment and excellent leadership throughout the season.
This was the first year we have run a Ladies third team,and it has been a fantastic addition to our club. The team’s purpose is to provide a friendly, supportive first step into competitive tennis for players keen to gain match experience - and it’s been wonderful to see how enthusiastically it’s been embraced. Despite the challenges of fielding full squads and facing tough opposition, the players showed brilliant spirit and determination, finishing the season on a high with a well-earned draw against Horsenden. The introduction of this team highlights just how vibrant and growing our Ladies section has become, and we’re excited to see it continue to flourish next year.
Winter Vets team
Our first Ladies Vets team showed great spirit and determination throughout the winter season, securing three impressive wins and only two narrow defeats.
The Ladies Vets second team went one better, delivering a stellar run with five victories and one hard-fought draw!
Across all our teams, the dedication and willingness of players to step up and support each other has been fantastic. There’s been a noticeable rise in confidence and consistency, which is a real credit to everyone involved.
In Summary
It’s been heartening to see such commitment from our ladies - both on and off court. Matches are well supported, and the sense of team spirit continues to be one of our greatest strengths.
A huge thank you to all who played, supported, or helped organise fixtures and practices this year. Your energy and enthusiasm are what make the ladies’ section so special, and we’re excited to build on this success in the year ahead.
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Mens Captain report: James Swain
The last year has seen exciting progress across our men’s teams. Starting with winter season 24/25, we won our winter singles division for the second successive year and will begin the 25/26 season in the Bucks Division 2. Due to the amount of interest we have for playing singles matches, we have now entered two teams for this winter, captained by Jai and Ro.
We were struggling with players for our 24/25 winter Veteran’s (45 and older doubles) due to various reasons, so it was decided to not enter another men’s vets team for this year. But if there is interest, we can enter again in future seasons.
This year, we hosted a Division 1 National Club League (NCL) team, captained by Tim Hentschel, they brought a very high level of tennis to their matches, and their home matches had consistent observers cheering the team on. They had a very successful season and won the men’s D1 NCL summer league for Buckinghamshire without dropping a match all season and now they are going to play regionals next season. If they win next season, they will be a national team and competing for NCL trophy for the LTA. Tim and his players also kindly helped out with our other teams when we were short of our regular players.
Our Summer 2025 1st team did well finishing a solid 2nd in Bucks Division 3- well done- we did not actually lose any match, but lost the top spot as we drew 3 of our matches!
Our Summer 2025 2nd team put in good effort and Aman, has managed to successfully encourage new players and younger players to Team matches.
Thursday evening Men’s match practice sessions are proving to be popular and competitive- sometimes having enough players for 3 courts and ample chance for singles practice. We also welcome ladies who want to practice with us. New to 2026, we hope to welcome our new coach Simon to Thursday evenings for some group coaching for a small fee. We will advertise the coached sessions in advance.
I cannot finish without mentioning our Medley (Mixed) teams, captained by Helen. We play in a league managed by FCTC and our very own Lucinda and Peter. The matches consist of a men’s or ladies doubles and a mixed doubles, and they are great fun. This current season we have a 1st and 2nd team medley- please ask to join the WhatsApp groups if you are interested in taking part!
A quick acknowledgement and thanks must go to Aman, who in his first year as fixtures secretary has successfully balanced all our Team’s needs, with court availability and our ever popular club and social sessions.
A 2025 summer season highlight was our Club Championship, with all events proving very popular, and much comradery (and gossip) going on in the Championship WhatsApp group. Thanks to Peter for being a great tournament organizer. The event culminated in a very enjoyable finals day, organized this year by the amazing Judy.
I continue to look for new ways of encouraging all standards of play, introducing new players to the Men’s Teams and welcome feedback from any tennis club member- please reach out to me, thanks.
In the meeting Peter thanked James and Jai (in his absence) for getting Thursday nights going again.
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Mixed / Medley team report: Helen Sutton
The medley league is one of the most fun ones to enter, in general there is very good spirited competition and we do encourage as many people as possible to participate.
Winter season
2024/2025 we entered 3 medley teams in the Farnham Common Winter League, this is a competitive league that happens to be run by our own club. Huge thanks to Lucinda and Peter for all the co-ordination of the league which itself has 6 divisions and 36 individual teams participating.
The aim of the new 3rd team was to give as many people as possible a chance to play, and that did work we were thrilled to welcome Usama, Gos, Judy, Tracie and Simon into competitive matches for the first time. As you can see from the results below the 1st and 3rd team did incredibly well. The 2nd team had some super close matches with one draw and 2 matches at 3-5 with tie breaks that could have gone either way.
The results for the season: Medley 1st team were promoted from Division 4 to Division 3, Medley 2nd team were demoted from Division 5 to Division 6 and Medley 3rd team were promoted from Division 6 to Division 5.
For winter 2025/2026 we are back to 2 teams, and will be playing in Divisions 3 and 5. Teams have been picked for the early matches already, but as always we are very short on men.
Summer season
Medley 2s played in Division 6, we finished respectfully in the lower part of the table. Medley 1 found itself in a ridiculously high standard Division 4 and will be demoted next season. The standard from our team was very high, but when the division winners have their coach playing matches there isn’t much you can do (looking at you Chalfont St Giles).
I want to thank all people who played regularly this winter and summer, but a particular mention has to go to Arno Delport who stepped up big time to cover the lack of men we had over the summer. Arno played 3 matches for the 2s and then stepped up to play an incredible 5 matches for the 1s. Thank you also to Richard Baker and Aman Kohli who also stepped in to cover 1s matches.
In summary
I honestly think the medley is the most competitive fun you can have on court. If you haven’t already raised your hand and you’d like to play please contact Helen asap so we can rest the legs of our men stalwarts a bit more.
Discussion in the meeting took place on whether men actually don’t want to play mixed. James has been involved in chasing so it’s improving.
Lucinda volunteered that this year in FCWL there are 36 teams. Now it’s being run on the LTA system she has had more teams enquiring about joining. This year we invited clubs to an end of season awards evening but not much turnout. Lesson learned is to position it as a social end of season evening with drinks and as a friendly.
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Maintenance Officer Report: Alan Polding
There have been 4 contractor and 33 general maintenance and project jobs completed during the year 2024/25.
Total spend was £38,605, of which £37,075 was spent with contractors. The floodlight installation on courts 3&4 came in on budget costing £34,500 supported by a grant of £15,000 from the Beeches Community Board.
Particular highlights from the year have been:
• Installation of the new floodlights was completed in July. The new LED floodlights on courts 3&4 use half the energy of the lights on courts 1&2, whilst providing brighter, more even lighting with less light spill on the surrounding area.
• The installation of solar panels on the main clubhouse, which is estimated will provide 17,000kWh of renewable energy for the club. This project was entirely funded by a donation from UKSOL, and has facilitated the removal of charges for the use of the tennis floodlights.
We recycled 518 tennis balls.
There are no major projects planned for 2026. Potential smaller projects include re-lamping the floodlights on courts 1&2 and remedial work to the concrete edges to the courts which are crumbling in places. The next major project is planned to be the installation of Tiger Turf on courts 3&4, which is dependent on both club accruals and fundraising.
Discussion in meeting
Peter thanked Tim and Alan for all their work getting floodlights sorted within 11 months – fundraising and installation which is extraordinary. This will have a huge impact over winters allowing parallel coaching and play.
The audience, Richard Thomas, Alan and Peter want to thank Andrew Moore and his company for sponsoring the solar panels, the audience showed their appreciation with a round of applause for such a generous gesture. Court usage is now actually growing from what it was previously – as people are more confident in getting a court to play on. Solar panels are also now producing electricity!
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Membership Report: Sue Salmon
Membership number have remained fairly steady, total 255 members at present comprising of 154 adults and 101 juniors.
Last November 262 members, 154 adults and 108 juniors.
This consistent membership is thanks to our hard-working tennis committee who have held open days, tournaments and fund-raising events. They painted the pavilion, raised money for our new LED floodlights, maintain the courts in excellent condition and use the community Facebook to raise the profile of the club in our local area.
Thanks also to all our members for their enthusiastic support and for making potential new members welcome in social sessions.
Many of our new members are joining in social sessions and some are already representing the club in matches.
In the new year, with our new head coach Simion Lazenby fully on board, we aim to increase junior membership.
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Head Coach report: Simon Lazenby
Peter provided an update in the meeting live about the context of Alison having left, and why we are so enthusiastic about Simon joining. We wanted to persist with him patiently despite the fact he was also impacted by one of his coaches leaving.
Simon updated that after the pre-read was sent that he has now appointed a full time coach himself which means he will be able to dedicate a lot more time for Farnham Common which is appreciated. Wednesday lunchtime group sessions kicked off today which was welcomed (despite the cold!).
Simon is in discussion with some local clubs about getting a small junior league going. He is also collaborating with Kevin head of PE at FC schools about organising breakfast clubs.
Caldicott have asked if Simon would pick up and lead performance squad for them during daytime term time, and that would encourage them to potentially join the club. Simon’s assistant met Caldicott yesterday to discuss options. Peter and Simon will discuss how to potentially charge for that to benefit the club.
He is really looking forward to running a full program from January. He intends to get the program onto Clubspark by end of November. Bookings will be able to be done via a QR code and clubspark.
In Whitton he had a 3 court club, within 3 years had built up to 100 juniors in the program and is confident he can build things up at FC.
Simon and the audience thanked Jai for having continued to run a program on Saturday mornings despite the transition from Alison.
Pre-read provided by Simon ahead of meeting:
I am very happy to be the Head Coach at Farnham Common Tennis Club. Since taking on
the role, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time both on and off the court, getting to know
members, families, and the wider club community.
It has certainly been a challenging and, at times, stressful start. Several plans had to be
adjusted or changed at the last minute, which made the early stages quite demanding.
However, thanks to the support of the club, the committee, and the players, I feel that we
are now firmly on the right track.
Our coaching sessions are now running smoothly, and participation continues to grow
week by week. There is a great atmosphere on court, with players of all ages engaging
enthusiastically in their sessions.
The junior programme will continue to expand in January, with additional groups and
new opportunities for young players to develop their skills and love for the game. We also
have an exciting partnership with Caldicott School, which presents an amazing
opportunity to grow the game locally and to strengthen the club’s links within the
community.
Looking ahead, I’m confident that we can build on this momentum, continuing to develop
both the junior and adult coaching pathways. With the foundations now in place, 2026
promises to be an exciting year for tennis at Farnham Common Tennis Club.
Finally, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to the committee for their ongoing support,
guidance, and trust as we establish the coaching programme. I’d also like to thank the
members for the incredibly warm welcome I’ve received since joining the club — it’s been
a real pleasure becoming part of such a friendly and passionate tennis community.
Simon Lazenby
Head Coach
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Events Co-ordinator: Judy D’Arcy
The 2025 social and tennis events calendar has been full and varied, offering a great mix of competitive play, fundraising, and social get-togethers. The enthusiasm and participation from members throughout the year have been fantastic, and many of our regular events have gone from strength to strength.
January – Frosty Tournament
We kicked off the year with the ever-popular Frosty Tournament and after three attempts to play - ironically it was too frosty, 20 hardy players took to the courts. The event raised £65 for fundraising – a great start to the year.
February–March – +55 Tournament - The Paul McPhillips Shield
The Tournament ran through to the end of March, with plenty of friendly competition and strong participation. Regular WhatsApp updates kept players motivated and ensured matches were completed by the deadline. The tournament was keen contested and the winners were Lyndsay Breeze and Bill Hester who overcame the challenge from the other finalists Maggie Southerden and Steve Neale. We raised £42 selling hotdogs.
March–May – Play Your Way to Wimbledon
This year saw adults participate in “Play Your Way to Wimbledon” event taking place between March and May. Twenty four members participated in the event. The competition ran from March to May and it saw Maggie Southerden and Lou Rankin progress to play in the counties competition. James Swain and Jai Bhatia won the local men’s tournament.
April – Grand National Tournament
Hosted by Karen and Penny, 17 members enjoyed the usual handicapped tournament and watched the race. Arno and Vicky were the days winners.
April – Big Tennis Weekend
Held on 27 April, this event encouraged participation and community engagement and resulted in some super new members joining our Club and Tom Aldridge went on to win a plate in his first Championship.
May – Quiz Night
A lively Quiz Night on 19 May proved another hit, thanks to Peter for hosting. Always a club favourite, it brought 58 members together for an evening of fun and friendly rivalry and the guest appearance of The Governess - Anne Hegerty. We raised £341 on the night or our fund raising campaign.
May – Club Championships Launch
The Club Championships was launched, 75 members signed up for the Championship (9 ladies singles, 19 mens singles, 24 ladies doubles, 35 mens doubles and 49 mixed doubles.
Summer – Social Dinner
We enjoyed a relaxed Social Dinner in August following Wednesday social tennis, thanks to Sandra for arranging this, it was good opportunity for us all to experience the new caterers in the Club
September – Finals Day
Finals Day 13 September marked the highlight of the competitive calendar, celebrating the culmination of the Club Championships with excellent play and great attendance. Well done everyone who took part and congratulations to all the winners.
Competition Overview
Event Entries Winners Plate Winners
Ladies Doubles 26 M. Southerden & L. Rankin J. Hunt & L. Gillespie
Ladies Singles 9 Z. Ramsdale L. Quixley
Men’s Doubles 38 J. Swain & I. Freeman Unfinished
Men’s Singles 19 J. Swain T. Aldridge
Mixed Doubles 52 J. Swain & V. Spooner Unfinished
Games commenced Friday 30th May, giving players over three months to complete matches.
October – Paul McPhillips Shield Launch
We have announced the 2nd year of the 55 plus competition and we have 28 participants signed up and reading to battle it out for the Shield.
November – Light Up the Court, Paul McPhillips Shield Draw, Quiz Night, AGM and Christmas Ball
It’s a packed month in the FCTC calendar! We started off in style with the official “Light Up the Courts” event, brilliantly compered by Tim. His brand-new Americano-style fun tournament was a huge hit, all four courts were glowing and buzzing with energy as more than 30 members battled it out. The atmosphere was electric, and congratulations go to our winners, Lyndsay Breeze and Mike How. Thank you to Bill and Wendy for the music and sound system. Awesome !
The evening continued with the Draw for the Paul McPhillips Shield, held in the Clubhouse. Peter oversaw proceedings as Penny and Glen drew names from the hats to create this season’s pairings. The competition runs until 31 March 2026, so good luck to all our contenders!
The second quiz of the year took place on 10th November and over 60 members of the club participated. A fun night supported by the Governess - aka Anne Hegarty raised an additional £55.00, in total we raised £247 towards the our new target Project Tiger Turf - resurfacing courts 3 and 4. The night was expertly hosted, of course, by Peter and his ever-glamorous assistant Doris (aka Penny). Special thanks to Bill and Wendy who enhanced the night with their sound system.
And finally, we’ll wrap up the month in true FCTC style with the Club Ball on 22nd November! With 86 guests attending, it promises to be a fantastic night filled with fun, music, and celebration.
This year’s raffle is shaping up to be something special, with a huge thank you to Lizzie, Bill, Wendy, and Simon for donating such brilliant prizes — and to Lyndsay, Karen, and Sandra for all their hard work behind the scenes with ticket sales and preparations. The attraction of a free holiday is helping Karen optimise her sales. Thank you Karen - you are our Salesperson of the Year !
A special shout-out goes to Lizzie, who’s gone above and beyond creating a stunning tennis-themed table decoration — we can’t wait to see her handiwork on the night!
December – Christmas Lunch
This year’s Christmas Lunch is scheduled on December 21st at the Clubhouse. Thanks to Tim for organising this for us. Helen and Nicky will be serving up their first Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings - not to be missed !
In summary, 2025 has been a successful year for social and competitive events. Attendance has been high, fundraising efforts have been positive, and there’s been a great balance between tennis and social fun. The committee’s teamwork, communication, and planning have been key to this success – and with continued enthusiasm, 2026 promises to be even better.
2026 Social Events Report Summary
We’re already planning our social calendar for 2026! We’ll be bringing back the favourites that everyone enjoys, along with a few fresh ideas to keep things lively. If there’s something you’d like to see on next year’s list, please let Judy know — we’d love to hear your suggestions.
Discussion in the meeting
Tim will be starting to do more with Judy on events, including running a monthly ‘americano’ style format which was trialled on the floodlight opening night. Options could include replacing one club night a month with this, as it can be a competitive format although the social tournament was played in a non competitive spirit. Everyone in the audience who had participated thoroughly enjoyed it. The format does require people to stay to their commitment if they play, as certain numbers like 8 or 16 are needed.
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Prizes and Awards
Ladies’ singles – Zoe Ramsdale, runner up Vicky Spooner
Men’s Singles – James Swain, runner up Jai Bhatia
Ladies’ Doubles – Maggie Southerden and Lou Rankin, runners up Vicky Spooner & Fi Regan
Men’s Doubles – James Swain & Ian Freeman, runners up Darren Lane and Rohit Solan
Mixed doubles – Vicky Spooner and James Swain, runners up Rajul Mehta and Marc Weeks
Player of the Year: Arno Delport
Junior Player of the Year: Ria Solan
Neil Hutton Trophy for Most Improved Player: Tom Aldridge
Captains Cup: Lucinda Quixley
Any Other Business
1: Main club football
- Richard Thomas updated that once it became clear that adult rugby had declined the club asked if there were football clubs who wanted to join
- Lots of interest came from that
- Chalfont St Peter took over pitches to help with utilisation and capacity – ensured that the club had multi sports
- They pay a fee for the usage of the pitches, they have access to grants and will be supporting with the upkeep of the pitches
- In the future they may become a football section, not yet under discussion there are no contracts signed at all
- Starting to become more embedded in the club, holding their awards evening here for example
- Catering from Helen and Nicky was offered on Saturdays but was not economically viable with low demand
- White markings for football, blue markings for rugby
2: Main club rugby.
- Richard T updated also that Slough rugby have lost their lease on their club as slough council raised the prices too high, they are now using our pitches
- They are now training here and also playing home matches at FC
- Slough are great with the club, they look after the facilities and tidy up which is welcomed
- Some Fijian members may be coming to play
- All matches are on the main website
- They are supporting the main bar very well
- Lacrosse is no longer playing here, it wasn’t sustainable as predominantly students who left to go to university. Has been removed from the website.
3: Tiger turf for courts 3 and 4
- Is being accrued for in the main club, it’s a very large expense and is currently in the plan for 2028
- Peter reminded that money raised by tennis usually goes into the main club fund which then funds all sections. The exception was the fundraising for the floodlights where that was ringfenced
- As we are raising funds regularly – eg the Ball last year raised £4k , this year expect a similar number – this is all noted by the main committee and are helpful for the overall club
- Richard T shared that Richard Cowan the main club treasurer is stepping down after many years. He encouraged anyone from the tennis section to express interest
4: Padel
- Peter has approached the parish council clerk to ask if the PC in principle would support the building of padel courts
- The club is on PC lands so if there is no appetite then there is no point in investigating further
- Research has suggested that a company running padel here would need 3 indoor courts and they would need to take home £35-£45k annually
- In the recent PC plan the sports club was nominated as a designated green space
- Peter will update once he has further information
- One audience member shared that Great Missenden have installed an outdoor court and are making good money
- Discussion in meeting about the noise from padel which would likely be an issue given the residential around the sports club
- Question was raised about the impact of Wycombe wanderers taking over the Farnham Royal club. There are 2 outdoor padel courts at the golf club they will be taking over. Impact is unknown
- Discussion around whether we have reached ‘peak padel’ in the UK. Richard T shared history about squash which used to have a waiting list. Noted that Spain has 4000 padel courts and the UK has 400
- In closing, Peter re-iterated that the discussion are only at the early days – and a view from the PC is on the critical path
5: Cricket and football equipment behind the pavilion
- Peter confirmed this has been raised in the main committee, the intent is to move it closer to the main containers
- Richard T said this was in hand for cricket – action is with Neil Stephens who has agreed to move them
- Re football equipment – Sue has been in touch with football and waiting for them to call her back
- Question on whether the football nets are easy to move so that anyone can simply pull them out to play, Richard mentioned they had offered to creak the goals into half
- Raised that the cricket nets are often full of rubbish and why couldn’t they be tidied. Is it possible to install a bin close to the nets. Richard T confirmed he would be open to installing a bin.
- Cricket nets did have padlocks – the code seems to have been passed around and the nets are in use, not clear if they are all members
6: Advertising van parked in the club
- Noted this was back again, it has been raised with the owner in the past
- Tennis know that we are unable to raise sponsorship due to PC restrictions, so the fact there is advertising being done seems in conflict as we would want to raise money ideally.
- Richard T confirmed no advertising is permitted on site
7: Recent issue where someone turned off the water for the main club recently
- Richard T confirmed it was a deliberate action, not yet identified
- Caused an issue for slough rugby who were bringing a coach full – there was no water available in the club at all
- Luckily TJ knew where the switch was and addressed it!
Closing remarks
Peter thanked everyone for attending and for the great interaction during the meeting