Newsletter 43                                      November 2021

Quite a lot to report, including the Annual General Meeting, but the big news is that we are looking good to go ahead with resurfacing the courts next spring – more below.

AGM.  This year’s delayed AGM was held after the club mix-in on 26 September. The draft minutes (subject to approval by the next AGM) are attached and include the Chair and Treasurer’s reports.  The existing committee was re-elected but would like to encourage other members to consider joining the committee at (or even before) the next AGM which we hope will be held on an evening towards the end of March, just prior to the new season,  as in pre-Covid times.

Resurfacing.  We hope shortly to finalise a contract for resurfacing next spring.  We have made very good progress on negotiations with our landlord (the Village Hall Trust) and expect by then to have a new lease in place which will provide us with long term security of tenure. Crucially, we have also obtained pledges of generous grant assistance from Chichester District Council, the Village Hall Trust and the Parish Council which, together, we expect to cover about 40% of the cost.  We will be able to cover the balance from the own funds while retaining sufficient reserves to cover operating costs and contingencies.

Other Maintenance issues.  If you have played recently, you may have noticed that in cooperation with our neighbours some of the overhanging trees have been cut back.  We hope that this will reduce the problems caused by leaves and twigs on the courts and we aim to do something about encroaching moss at the south end of the courts in the next few weeks.  Meanwhile, do make use of the brooms in the hut and please make sensible judgements about when it is safe to play in autumn and winter conditions.  Finally, there have also been occasional problems with the lock on the court gate but with luck these have been eliminated by a liberal dose of WD 40. (The lock opens more easily if you press it in the hasp after dialling the combination).

Drop-ins.    Our brief experiment made it clear that, despite the theoretical advantages of spacing our dropping sessions more evenly, in practice more people are able to come on a Tuesday than on a Thursday. .

Clubspark.  The LTA’s second attempt to modify the log-in arrangements seems to be going more smoothly.  We are exploring a number of minor modifications to the system which we hope will make joining and renewing membership even easier next year.

Coaching Times.  The courts will be reserved for regular coaching at the following times each week until Christmas:

Wednesdays 11am - 1pm (both courts)   Thursdays 10am - 12pm (1 court)  Fridays 9 - 11am & 1 - 2pm (1 court)

Please remember you can always check when the courts are reserved for coaching by visiting the schedule on our website, even if you don’t use the booking facility.

Keep safe,

Amanda Farren, Chair

Richard Hatfield, Secretary