Liphook Lawn Tennis Club
Recreation Ground, London Road, Liphook, Hampshire, UK, GU30 7AP

25th March 2021

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT & NEWSLETTER 2021

& CORNAVIRUS – NOTE 8

Dear Member,

INTRO

A memorable year, and not for any of the right reasons! Let’s hope we can all move on and get back to something approaching normal this year. As we move back to tennis and other activities, the committee has been discussing various initiatives to kick-start the club back into life. We have unified adult membership this year and consigned the ‘Weekday’ membership category to the bin: we hope that this will promote a ‘one club’ feel and to encourage more members to take up of social tennis at the weekend. We have also reduced the average cost of adult membership this year which we hope will attract more members. We will explain this in more detail in our Zoom AGM, to be held on Saturday 10th April – I hope that many of you will be able to join us at this meeting and make positive contributions.

Further details and updates are set out below.

COVID 19 UPDATE

At last!!!

You will be aware that the  government has announced a relaxation of CV19 restrictions as part of a roadmap back to some sort of normality – as a result we are planning to open the tennis courts for use from MONDAY 29th MARCH.

For reference the latest LTA Covid guidance is here: ( https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19---latest-advice/) I provide this link rather than copying the information as the guidance is still subject to change.

We must, of course, continue to observe the normal rules. Our actions and processes are proportionate to the size of the club; they are impossible to police and rely heavily on all members acting responsibly. I know that you will all understand this.

So, in summary:

• Social tennis is permitted. Two hard courts are set aside for this activity on Saturday and Sunday, 2pm to 5pm, Monday 2pm to 4pm, Tuesday 9am to 12pm and 6pm to 8pm, Wednesday 9am to 12pm and Thursday 6pm to 8pm.
• The maximum number of people who can be waiting by the clubhouse and still observe social distancing rules is 4. If necessary, therefore, consideration should be given to playing only on the bottom two courts and using the top court as a seating area for those waiting to play if numbers dictate.
• All participants must register their attendance on the pre-printed sheets which are in both clubhouses.
• The LTA guidelines should be followed. A summary of these guidelines is in each clubhouse.
• Occupancy of the clubhouses is restricted to two people at the hard courts and one person only in the grass court clubhouse. The clubhouse should only be used to sign the attendance register or to use the WC.

• There are hand sanitisers and disinfected wet wipes in each clubhouse. Please use the sanitiser before signing the attendance register. These are for members’ use, but everybody is encouraged to use their own personal hygiene equipment.
• The towels have been washed and taken away. Hands should be air dried after washing.
• Limit the use of the clubhouse to signing in and out only. Try to avoid touching any surfaces. Do not use the cups, cutlery, plates, etc.
• Please act responsibly and considerately in order to protect us all.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The AGM will be held this year on Saturday 10th April at 12:00, via Zoom. The invitation is below.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7911669589

Meeting ID: 791 166 9589

Rachel will take charge of the Zoom aspects of the meeting and ensure that things run smoothly. This is the first time that we have conducted the AGM in this manner and there may well be teething problems, so please be patient. Rachel will explain the protocol at the start of the meeting which, in essence, is please remain on mute and raise your hand if you wish to speak.

The agenda is below:

1. Apologies
2. Matters Arising from AGM February 29th 2020
3. Chairman’s Report
4. Treasurer’s Report
5. Match Secretary’s Report
6. Club Coach Report
7. Subscriptions for 2021/2022
8. AOB

SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2021/22

The committee discussed this year’s subscriptions long and hard, noting the following issues which were germane to the discussion and final decision:

• Many members paid the full amount in early April last year and have hardly played since because of lockdown restrictions.
• Even those members who paid the post-CV 19 rates we introduced really didn’t get great value for money in terms of tennis games/£££.
• All Juniors and Mini-Junior enjoyed a 50% discount last year in recognition of the financial hardship many parents may have suffered as a result of Covid.
• The overheads, in terms of rent, bills, maintenance, insurance, etc are not linked to the amount of use of the courts and hence our outgoings were not reduced by Covid.
   
• Membership has been falling slowly, but steadily, over the last few years, and social tennis sessions have been poorly attended.
• In considering all the factors above, the committee decided to take the opportunity to make changes to the membership categories by removing the ‘Weekday’ membership category and to reduce the average price for an adult member. See the table, below. The annual subscription fee for an adult member is now set at £110 for the year, assuming payment before the end of April. This is a reduction of £37 for full members compared to last year, and an increase of just £5 for last year’s ‘Weekday’ members, for which they can now play at weekends. Other membership fees have been tidied up, with a small increase in some areas. There is no discount for juniors this year.

Please note that, after the end of April, the fees rise by 10%, so please pay early to avoid this increase. You can join, as ever, by logging onto the website (Liphook Lawn Tennis Club / Liphook Lawn Tennis Club (lta.org.uk).  Please pay using a BACS transfer if you can and avoid using the Go Cardless (or Stripe) method of payment as this incurs a cost for the club.

                                                                                                    JOHN WICHALL

As many of you will be aware, we lost a long serving club and committee member, John Wichall, last year.  This is a copy of the note I circulated on August 2nd:

Dear Member,

It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of John Wichall, last Thursday, July 30th.

John was a keen member and active supporter of Liphook Tennis Club for many, many years and served on the committee as Club Secretary for two lengthy periods of time. He was instrumental in achieving grants and support from various organisations and, in large part, the new floodlights and court refurbishment completed a couple of years ago are due to his hard work.

Above all we will miss him greatly as a friend.

The committee has sent condolences to Lin and family.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

Dennis Adams, our long-standing treasurer, gave up his place on the committee this year. I would like to thank Dennis for all his work over the many years he has been a committee member and treasurer.

I have assumed the role of treasurer and will present the club’s accounts at the AGM. They will subsequently be available for all on the website.

COURT MAINTENANCE

When you return to the courts, from Monday 29th March, you will notice an improvement in the playing surface. We have taken the opportunity during lockdown to treat the three hard courts with an anti-moss agent and to give them a deep clean. The lower two hard courts are now also due a re-paint: we have decided to postpone this for a while and take a view in the Autumn.

PARISH NOTICES

Mary Eyre continues to do a great job collecting old tennis balls and selling them on. If you have any old balls, with or without tubes, please leave them in the box in the hard-court clubhouse for Mary to use.

Please see the latest edition of the Liphook Community Magazine, Spring 2021, where you will find an article on the tennis club.

Best wishes                                                               

S Hargreaves

Chairman