Welcome to our Autumn newsletter! It has been great to see the courts busy again, after re-opening in May. We are now following strict LTA and Government COVID-19 guidelines, including installing hand-sanitising stations and maintaining social distancing and this is all working well. Club sessions have been able to resume and are generally well attended. These are held on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings and there is a ladies’ night on the second Monday of every month. All members and non-members (paying a visitor’s fee) are very welcome. Court Booking Since lockdown, members have been able to book a court for social play using ClubSpark (previously courts could only be booked for matches). This has proved to be really popular, so will be continued for the foreseeable future. If anyone is unsure how to do this, please contact Fiona Pye (fionapye@btinternet.com) or refer to the ClubSpark instructions in the new members’ packs. Tournaments Several tournaments have unfortunately had to be cancelled this year, but at the end of August a ladies’ one day tournament was able to take place. This was a great success thanks to the exceptional organisational skills of Debbie Lane. The winners were Diane Brown and Marta Smistikova, who beat Debbie Lane and Fiona Kelly in the final. The mix and match tournament is currently underway, also organised by Debbie! Please contact her at debbieglane@gmail.com for further details and if you are interested in entering. The ladder competitions, which have been running since August, are continuing through the winter and new players can still sign up. More information can be found on the noticeboard outside the Clubhouse or contact Fiona Kelly (fiona1.kelly@btinternet.com). League Matches The Essex Small Clubs Winter League is now underway. Best of luck to the teams and a big thank you to the captains. If you are interested in playing please contact the team captains: Daphne Lunnon Mixed 1 (drlunnon@gmail.com), Daphne Lunnon (Ladies Premier), Gail Hogg Ladies 1 (gailhogg721@gmail.com) and Dina McDonald Ladies 2 (mcddina@gmail.com). Coaching Ollie Toms runs several junior and adult group classes at Stansted, including a new adult coaching session on Thursday evenings. Please email him at olliestennis@gmail.com for further details. Maintenance A Club maintenance session was held on 6 September to give the courts and surroundings a general tidy up. Many thanks to everyone who helped out, your efforts really made a difference. Huge thanks also to Ginette Basten and Ash Huggonson who’ve done such a brilliant job of keeping the garden at the front of the Clubhouse looking so lovely all year, including all the watering through the hot, dry summer! Lyn Timms deserves our heartfelt thanks too, for keeping the courts clear of leaves, not an easy task at the moment! Security of Your Data Just a reminder that any personal data that you have shared with the Club is kept secure and only used for legitimate purposes associated with your membership and operation of the Club. Our privacy policy, which details the nature of personal information collected by the Club and the purposes for which it is used, is displayed on the STC website and the Clubhouse noticeboard. Tennis Balls We want your old tennis balls! Please bring any unwanted tennis balls to the Club and put them in the box under the table outside. They will be passed on to Jan Hollis, who very kindly sends them to a charity for recycling, which pays STC for the balls it receives. Please see the STC website (stanstedtennisclub.co.uk)